That beautiful apartment you occupy could be sitting on ‘cursed’ land

Rapid urbanisation and the increased hunger for housing has seen land transactions become hot cakes, particularly in some sections of Mount Kenya, that are in close proximity to Nairobi.

Developers are on the lookout for land to build housing units to quench this demand. That explains why some areas like Kabete, Kinoo, Gitaru, Ruaka, Kirigiti, Ndenderu and Banana Hill, which used to be quiet rural outposts, are witnessing the proliferation of high rise apartments.

It is not uncommon to see a modern high rise apartment sitting side by side with land occupied by peasant households. This construction boom has seen land, which was previously reserved for agricultural use now being turned into commercial and housing use.  A good example are the former coffee estates that have been turned into high end housing estates.

What is rarely documented, however, are the vicious repercussions visited upon families, who either knowingly or unknowingly sold ancestral land that was not supposed to be sold in the first place?

The allure of quick cash and flashy lifestyles has seen poor household sell their ancestral land, which are currently being converted into high rise apartments heritage. In some cases, crooked family members sell the land behind the backs of the rest of the family, thereby leaving them destitute and homeless.

Some of these decisions have torn families apart, whereby members do not see eye to eye, leading to court cases, fights, even deaths. Court registries have a backlog of such cases, which have become all too common.

In other instances, those who sell the land, even with the consent of family members, squander the money and are eventually left homeless.

Sam Hiuhu, a property agent in Kitengela told Mwananchi Reporting that it is important for the agent to do due diligence, not only on legal issues but on cultural matters as well. “In most cases land handed down through generations are not supposed to be sold,” explains Hiuhu. “When such land is sold, there are serious cultural consequences that befall family members; what is commonly referred to as curses.”

So what should a property agent do to avoid such an eventuality?

“Legally, as long as one has followed the due process in law, one can go ahead with the transaction,” says Hiuhu. “Ethically however, it behoves the agent to dig deeper and ascertain whether the piece of land has underlying cultural and family issues.”

He gives the example of a case where he represented a client who wanted to put up a petrol station along Thika Road. “The land in question was belonged to a family, which wanted to sell the land but was fearful of her husband’s dying wish to the effect that it should not be sold.”

“Upon learning this, I advised the family and my client to enter into a lease agreement, whereby the family gets generous monthly payments on the land and my client does business running the petrol station,” adds Hiuhu.

Mwaura wa Muthoni, a Kikuyu elder and a cultural practitioner explains that it is irresponsible for people to sell ancestral land. “There is a good reason why, during family succession, those who are given letters of administration are referred to as trustees. That land does not belong to them; they simply hold it in trust for future generations,” he explains.

Wa Muthoni, who is a member of Urumwe Cultural Group in Kiambu says that as elders they have been called to arbitrate on many land matters, where some family members want to dispose of ancestral land. “As elders we know only too well the horrible consequences of selling ancestral land,” he says. “However, ours is purely advisory as we cannot force people not to sell their land. Again, the laws of the land, as they stand today, do not take too seriously cultural issues especially when it comes to land.”