A Sh80 Million Church and a School for 936 Pupils: Court Orders a Kenyan Congregation Off Government Land

• Kenya’s Lands Court ordered PCEA to vacate its Sh650 million premises in Kitengela within 60 days
• The court found the government had lawfully acquired the land in 1991
• The site includes a church built in 2014 for Sh80 million and a primary school with 936 pupils
• The judge said the church’s title deeds were acquired “unprocedurally and fraudulently”

Kenya’s Environment and Land Court ordered the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) to leave its Sh650 million premises in Kitengela within 60 days after it lost a nine-year dispute with the Export Processing Zones Authority, the Daily Nation reported on September 21, 2023.

Justice Maxwell Gicheru ruled that “the Government of Kenya lawfully acquired the land in 1991. The same land could not have been registered to a third party.” The church had occupied the land since 2002. “The sale agreement dated 20th March 2002 indicated the land was vacant, which was not the case,” the judge said. He found that “the title deeds were acquired unprocedurally and fraudulently”, even though the Kajiado land registry had provided ownership documents.

The two-and-a-half-acre site holds a church built in 2014 for Sh80 million, a primary school with 936 learners and five sub-stations. Rev Hezekiah Murage said the congregation has “more than 2,000 worshipers every Sunday” and indicated the church would appeal.

The ruling means a large congregation could lose a building and school it has invested in heavily, despite holding title documents issued by the registry.

This is the risk that keeps land lawyers busy: a title that looks valid but traces back to land the state had already acquired. Jamaican churches buying land should ask for a full title history, not just a current certificate, and check whether any part of the land was ever compulsorily acquired or reserved for public use. A registry search is necessary but may not be enough on its own.

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