Harambee Sacco caught up in land fraud dispute
The Environment and Land Court has cancelled the title deeds of two plots of land in Nairobi after it emerged that the acquisition of the property was fraudulently facilitated by officials of Harambee Sacco.
What you need to know:
- Justice Lucy Mbugua cancelled the title deed issued to Mild Steel Engineering Works and declared Ms Meresia Akeyo Obara the lawful owner of the two prime plots of land in Greenfield Estate in Embakasi sub-county.
- The judge said Ms Obara had proved beyond doubt that Mr Nashon Otieno Wanjir, a former member of Harambee Sacco who has since died, had informed the Sacco that he had transferred the two plots to her.
The Environment and Land Court has cancelled the title deeds of two plots of land in Nairobi after it emerged that the acquisition of the property was fraudulently facilitated by officials of Harambee Co-operative Savings and Credit Society Limited.
Justice Lucy Mbugua cancelled the title deed issued to Mild Steel Engineering Works and declared Ms Meresia Akeyo Obara the lawful owner of the two prime plots of land in Greenfield Estate in Embakasi sub-county.
The judge said Ms Obara had proved beyond doubt that Mr Nashon Otieno Wanjir, a former member of Harambee Sacco who has since died, had informed the Sacco that he had transferred the two plots to her.
Ms Obara further proved that Mild Steel Engineering Works Ltd had been refunded part of the money it had initially paid to Mr Wanjir for the purchase of the plots in a transaction that was not completed. She said she had paid the full purchase price for the properties.
The judge found that "Harambee Sacco acted in cahoots with Mild Steel Engineering Works to process a title using unscrupulous documents".
Evidence presented to the court showed that the two properties were allocated to Mr Wanjir as a member of Harambee Sacco. The Sacco had acquired the land and subdivided it among its members.
Ms Obara told the court that the two plots were hived off a larger parcel known as Greenfields site and service scheme, which was registered in the name of the Sacco.
She argued that as at March 1996, Mr Wanjir still owed the Sacco Sh174,000 which had to be paid before he could take full ownership of the plots.
According to her evidence, Ms Obara said that they agreed on Sh404,000 as the purchase price for the two plots, after which she paid Sh174,000 directly to the Sacco by banker's cheque dated March 8, 1996, and the balance to Mr Wanjir in tranches of Sh150,000, Sh324,000 and Sh80,000.
After the sale of the land, Mr Wanjir formally introduced her to the Sacco as the purchaser and instructed the savings society to transfer the land to Ms Obara.
She followed up her title and Sacco officials allegedly informed her that it was being processed. In January 2004, however, she learned that Mild Steel Engineering, in collusion with some unscrupulous company officials, was pursuing the same plans.
She told the court that in total disregard of her rights as the owner of the land, and through fraudulent transactions by the Sacco, Mild Steel Engineering and Mr Mellitus Oluoch, the society processed a transfer of the land in favour of the steel engineering company.
Mr Oluoch, the director of Mild Steel Engineering, said he bought the two plots of land from Mr Wanjir in 1995 after paying Sh240,000.
He claimed that before purchasing the land, he had confirmed with the Sacco that the land belonged to Mr Wanjir. He then signed a sale agreement and Mr Wanjir's lawyers wrote to Harambee Sacco confirming the sale.
A lawyer who testified in the matter said the transaction was later cancelled and Mr Wanjir refunded the Sh17,500 accompanied by a handwritten letter dated May 31, 1996.
“Reading the said letter in the context of the evidence provided, I am of the view that the Mild Steel Engineering had indeed declined to pay the balance until a transfer was effected.
“This evidence that the engineering firm refused to pay the balance is also supported by the deceased’s letter dated March 31, 1996,” said Justice Mbugua.
In her ruling, the judge affirmed that Ms Obara had proved her case and therefore granted judgment in her favour against the defendants (Harambee Sacco, Mild Steel Engineering Works and Mr Aluoch) jointly and severally.
As a result, the court ordered the cancellation of all titles issued to the steel engineering firm and the registration of the land in Ms Obara's name.
