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{
    "id": 1394175,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394175/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 330,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Machogu",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13458,
        "legal_name": "Ezekiel Machogu Ombaki",
        "slug": "ezekiel-machogu-ombaki"
    },
    "content": "Teachers Service Commission and 45 staff employed by the Board of Management and the Nairobi City County Government. The school serves about 1,800 parents and guardians. The land on which the school stands, that is, LR 209/5996, was granted by the Government of Kenya to the Visa Oshwal Community Nairobi Registered Trustees in 1954. The land was granted for a 99-year lease, effective 1954. The conditions of the grant included that the land shall be used for the construction of a school and that the lease shall terminate if the school ceases to operate as such. The school initially ran as an all-Asian school before learners from other races were admitted in the years after Independence, starting in 1969. All along, the school was run with teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission on the understanding that this is a public school. It also received monetary support under the Free Primary School Programme. The school buildings, on the other hand, were put up by the Trustees. The question of whether the school is public or private has been the subject of various court cases. We have had protracted court cases for several years. The total number of these cases is five, which I am sure the hon. Senator from Nairobi is aware of. These cases are- (a) Nairobi High Court Civil Case No. 1474 of 2005, where the Visa Oshwal Community Nairobi Registered Trustees sued the then Nairobi City Council. The Trustees moved to court alleging that they have owned the land on which Visa Oshwal Primary School operated since 1954 was built using the community's resources. They claimed that the City Council of Nairobi had taken over the school and converted it into a public school without lawful authority. They thus sought vacant possession of the property. The court ruled in their favour, as per the attached judgement. However, the status quo remained. The second case was- (b) Nairobi High Court Constitutional Petition No.262 of 2013: Shree Visa Oshwal Community Nairobi Registered Trustees versus the Attorney-General, the Commissioner of Lands and the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Education. In a letter dated 4th January, 2013, the Commissioner of Lands wrote to the Trustees giving them six months' notice to surrender the subject land. The Trustees filed a case against the Commissioner of Lands alleging that the Commissioner's notice violated their constitutional right to property and fair administrative action. On 28th March, 2014, the court dismissed the case as per the attached judgement. The court found that the school had been built on public school since registration, having received teachers from the Teachers Service Commission and funding under the Free Primary Education Programme. A copy of the judgement is provided herewith. Following that, there was another case- (c) Nairobi Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No.126 of 2014 Visa Oshwal Community Nairobi Registered Trustees versus the Attorney-General, the Commissioner of Lands, and the Cabinet Secretary in Charge of Education. This was an appeal by the Trustees against the judgement of 28th March, 2014. The Court of Appeal rendered its decision on 22nd February, 2019, and found in favor of"
}