Man says rogue justice officials are responsible for losing his six acres

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George Wachira and members of his family during the funeral of his wife, Mama Hellen Wamuyu in the village of Maragima on December 28, 2022. [Purity Mwangi, Standard]

A man is seeking justice after his six-acre plot was auctioned off in 1985 for failing to pay 102,825 shillings compensation to a victim of assault.

His predicament stems from a case that was filed against him after a bar fight with Joe Ruthuthi on March 13, 1982.

George Wachira of Kiamariga in Nyeri is begging the government to intervene in his land case which has dragged on for 40 years.

At his wife’s funeral on Wednesday in Maragima, where a benefactor donated land to him, Wachira said he had lived near Sagana State Lodge-Karatina Road for 15 years after being evicted from his land.

In the assault case heard before the Resident Magistrate of Nyeri, Ruthuthi said Wachira fractured his right leg after hitting him with a stone.

Wachira was sentenced to 20 months in prison and three strokes of the cane. Dissatisfied with the decision, Ruthuthi returned to court and filed a civil suit seeking to recover costs incurred for medication following the injuries, lost wages during the five months of recovery, and other damages.

He won the case, and on January 26, 1985, the court ordered Wachira to pay 102,825 shillings in damages.

In his petition filed on February 19, 1997, Ruthuthi asked the court to order the sale of the land and proceeds given to him.

Wachira was unable to pay and the amount accrued interest, rising 12 years later to 240,439 shillings.

Ruthuthi returned to court to seek the sale of land to obtain the damages awarded to him.

The land was auctioned off and sold to the highest bidder, in this case Ruthuthi, the plaintiff. Wachira appealed to the court to request the cancellation of the sale of his land. The appeal has never been heard to this day.

Wachira now accuses him of corruption within the judicial system, arguing that the procedure used to sell his land was not legal. On December 28, 2022, Wachira and his family, along with some friends, converged on Maragima village in Kieni constituency for the burial of his wife, Hellen Wamuyu Wachira.

The burial took place a few miles from Tagwa Forest on land donated by a benefactor after his story was brought to light by The Standard.

“It’s so painful that I have to bury my wife in this isolated place, when I have the ancestral land that I was illegally dispossessed of,” he said.

He urged the government to look at his plea “and end his case and tame the corrupt deal” that cost him his land.

“My wife died of high blood pressure. It was a complication she developed immediately after we were evicted from our land. I live by the side of the road due to the corruption of our judicial systems “said Wachira.

He believes his resilience will lead to justice. He wants a tribunal to be set up to examine the facts that led to his expulsion.

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