Entrepreneur Richard Kimani appeals court ruling in property litigation

On February 2, 2026, businessman Richard Kimani filed a notice to move to the Supreme Court to challenge a Court of Appeal decision that overturned his legal victory in a decades-long land dispute. 

The dispute centers on a 0.9-hectare parcel of land in Kwale County (parcel Kwale/Galu/Kinondo/676). 

On December 11, 2025, the Court of Appeal (Justices Francis Tuiyott, Lydia Achode, and Aggrey Muchelule) set aside a 2022 High Court judgment that had declared Kimani the lawful owner.

The appellate judges ruled that the case must be heard afresh. They found that Justice L. L. Naikuni, who wrote the 2022 judgment, had not personally heard the witnesses testify, violating an earlier order that the presiding judge (Justice Charles Yano) should conclude the matter.

The case involves two conflicting titles for the same property:Richard Kimani, who holds a title issued in December 1978 following land adjudication in 1974.

Sheila Loveridge, a British national who holds a title obtained through transactions starting in 2004.

Kimani maintains his title is the “first registration” and accused former land registrars of unlawfully altering records to facilitate a fraudulent sale to Loveridge. 

Kimani is now seeking to have the Supreme Court of Kenya reinstate the Environment and Land Court’s 2022 decision, which had ordered the cancellation of Loveridge’s title and her eviction from the land.

By Anyhony Solly