A dispute over the ownership of a Sh200 million house pitting Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and a city lawyer has taken a dramatic turn, with the proprietor of the upmarket estate where the house is located describing her as an unlawful tenant.
Kihingo Village (Waridi Gardens) Limited, which developed a Sh20 billion estate with 55 palatial homes in Kitisuru, Nairobi, now wants Ms Waiguru to deposit Sh10 million as security for costs.
Kihingo says it does not know how the governor moved into its property and terms her an illegal tenant who should have been paying $8,000 in monthly rent since 2015.
The second-term governor has sued Kihingo, seeking orders to compel it to allow her to complete the sale agreement she entered into with Kihingo in 2015.
Ms Waiguru alleges that she paid a deposit of Sh40 million for the house in 2015 to former Tetu MP James Ndung’u Gethenji, who was then Kihingo CEO.
In evidence filed in court by a director of Kihingo, Mr Gitahi Gethenji says the governor is alien and an “unlawful tenant in the Kihingo Village”.
“Waiguru has no legitimate claim to the property and has been an illegal and unlawful tenant since 2015,” he states.
He adds that Ms Waiguru is seeking specific performance of an illegally entered lease agreement with one Ndung’u Gethenji, which he notes cannot be enforced in law.
Via lawyer Titus Koceyo, the director has also asked trial judge Oscar Angote to strike out the suit filed by Ms Waiguru, terming it frivolous, vexatious, scandalous and an abuse of the court process.
Mr Koceyo disclosed that by 2015, when Ms Waiguru allegedly began the process of buying the house, a court order issued by Justice Eric Ogolla on December 5, 2013 had barred Kihingo from disposing of, or selling the house in dispute pending determination of a case filed by Mr Chris Kabiro, the Kihingo Village project advocate.
Mr Koceyo says the house Ms Waiguru is seeking to own had initially been allocated to Mr Kabiro, with a Sh800 million loan advanced by the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA).
Mr Kabiro, who had joined the case filed by Ms Waiguru, has now joined forces with Kihingo to edge the governor out of the house in dispute.
Both Mr Kabiro and Kihingo, through lawyers Koceyo and Gichuki King’ara, respectively, have urged justice Angote to compel Ms Waiguru to deposit in court Sh10 million as security for costs in the event she loses the case.
Kihingo has divulged that since 2015, Ms Waiguru has not paid rent which now runs over Sh104,000,000. The company claims Waiguru instituted the suit with the ulterior motive of illegally acquiring the house.
“That an order for security of costs be granted as the plaintiff’s financial security is undetermined and her conduct, for not paying rent of $8,000 per month since 2015, are signs she is unreliable,” Mr Gitahi Gethenji states in a sworn affidavit in support of the case.
Mr Gethenji adds that the governor has no known assets and her financial stability and wellness are not known to either Kihingo or Mr Kabiro, the interested party in her suit.
In her case filed in 2019, Ms Waiguru has named Kihingo as the defendant and Mr Kabiro as an interested party. She is seeking orders compelling Kihingo to conclude the sale agreement so that she can pay the outstanding balance.
On May 3, Justice Angote ordered all the parties to file written submissions and responses on or before July 20, when the hearing will resume.
But the former Tetu MP, Mr James Gethenji, has come to Ms Waiguru’s defence, saying he sold the house to her in 2015 and that she is the legal owner. Mr James Gethenji confirms that the governor paid him Sh40,687,170 after signing the sale agreement.
Mr James Gethenji, who has since been enjoined in the case filed by Ms Waiguru and has been battling for the control of Kihingo, has defended the governor's entry into Kihingo.
He argues that evidence filed in court by his co-directors Gitahi Gethenji and Bob Gethenji shows the house belongs to Ms Waiguru and that Mr Kabiro’s presence in the case is solely to defeat justice.
Gitahi, Bob and James are brothers.
Mr James Gethenji says a company resolution to enforce the sale of the house to Ms Waiguru has been negated by his co-directors, thus denying the governor legitimacy of ownership.
He also says he will be affected by the outcome of the case by Ms Waiguru and Mr Kabiro due to his position as the chief executive and director of Kihingo.
The former MP says he is the concept originator, project proposer, and prime mover of Kihingo Village Waridi Gardens Development. He confirms in evidence filed in court by his lawyer Ishmael Nyaribo that he received a down payment of Sh40 million from Waiguru for the house in 2015.
He further claims Mr Kabiro is yet to remit Sh86 million, being proceeds from the sale of the houses.
