The family of the late Gerishon Kirima wants the court to evict over 1,310 squatters from its Njiru farm.
The court heard that the squatters invaded and occupied 160 acres of the 1,000 acre farm in 2011 following the death of the late tycoon.
Kirima, a former assistant minister, died in December 2010 in a South Africa hospital where he had been flown for specialised treatment.
The squatters, under Kamatuto Self Help Group, had gone to court seeking to be declared owners of the farm through adverse possession.
Under the Kenyan law, a squatter is entitled to be declared a legal owner of land if it’s proven that he has inhabited on it for at least seven years.
Lawyers representing Kirima’s widow Teresia Wairimu and his children however objected to the application saying the squatters do not qualify to be declared owners of the land as their occupation was illegal.
Testifying before Justice Okong’o, Mzee Smith Lusiji, a squatter, said he was born on the farm in 1939 and has been living on the disputed land over the years.
Lusiji, 78, told the judge the land belonged to an Italian settler a Mr Dominic who gave it out to squatters before he left the country.
He narrated that he moved out with his late father to Nakuru before returning in 1962 where he stayed until 2000 when bulldozers demolished their houses under police guard.
The hearing will continue on December 5, 2017.
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