Ruto Takes Battle for Weston Hotel Land to the Appeals Court

The battle over the land on which Deputy President William Ruto’s Weston Hotel stands has moved to the Appeals Court.

The five-star hotel has appealed against a High Court ruling allowing a petition filed by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) to proceed for a hearing. 

The hotel management said they are dissatisfied by the ruling issued in March this year by Justice Benard Eboso.

They wanted the petition by the State aviation agency dismissed on grounds that the authority erred by filing a fresh suit instead of appealing against a decision by the National Land Commission dated January 2019.

NLC directed Weston Hotel to compensate KCAA for the parcel at the current market value after establishing that the land was acquired illegally from its original owner (KCAA).

On March 2nd, Justice Eboso dismissed the objection by Weston, saying the Environment and Land Court has jurisdiction to hear the case and that the NLC decision was not binding.

But through lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, Weston accuses the judge of failing to address pertinent questions such as jurisdiction, and instead digressed and made a finding on a matter that was not argued before him.

“In the process, the learned judge determined issues that he did not invite the appellant and the other parties to address him on before his determination. The determination by the learned judge of the issues that were not before him caused grave constitutional breach on the appellant’s right to fair hearing and trial,” the appeal reads.

In his ruling, judge Eboso noted that NLC itself acknowledged that it lost its mandate to revoke titles under section 14 of the NLC Act and that it can only give recommendations and advisories for alternative dispute resolutions or to courts for arbitration.

KCAA stated that it will not accept compensation from Weston, insisting it wants to reclaim its land, which will lead to the demolition of the hotel.