The disputed land near Bungoma State Lodge, now at the heart of a high-stakes legal battle….Photo/Alex Wekesa
By Alex Wekesa| Bungoma
October 14, 2025
A Bungoma banker is fighting back after losing her prime property next to the Bungoma State Lodge .
The banker is accusing a judge of “erroneously” siding with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in a ruling she calls unjust and incomplete.
Through her lawyers, Anwar & Company Advocates, Ms. Judy Nekoye says Justice Enock Cherono of the Bungoma Environment and Land Court “erred in law and fact” by failing to consider crucial evidence that proved her ownership was above board.
“The land was lawfully acquired after a full validation process by the national government in 2016. I paid for it, and due diligence was done,” Nekoye argues in her appeal filed on October 13, 2025.
According to the appeal papers, the property — Bungoma Township/169, valued at about Sh35 million — was originally allocated to Charles Osioma Nyasani, who paid Sh660,000 in validation fees and received a certificate of lease before legally selling it to Nekoye.
Nekoye insists the Bungoma County Housing Department has no jurisdiction over the property since it was issued by the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, which had already validated it as private land.
But the EACC tells a different story — one of land grabbing, illegal demolition of a government house and a luxury maisonette built where civil servants once lived.
Justice Cherono’s October 9 ruling nullified Nekoye’s lease, declared her occupation illegal and ordered her eviction.
The court also directed the Land Registrar to cancel all entries relating to the title.
Now, Nekoye wants the entire judgment set aside, drawing parallels to a 2024 Nakuru case (Nakel Investments Ltd vs Ministry of Housing) in which the court found a similar property was legitimately acquired.
“This is a clear case of judicial oversight,” a person familiar with the appeal said. “The Judge ignored binding precedent and government validation documents.”
As the legal tussle unfolds, Bungoma residents are watching closely — because in Kenya’s land wars, one court ruling can turn a millionaire into a squatter overnight.
