A 30-year-old dispute over ownership of 207 acres in Nyeri has taken a new twist after the Chief Land Registrar exposed irregular dealings that dispossessed a former MP of the property.
A court has been informed that a company misled the land registrar to vacate a legal instrument granting former Nyeri MP John Nderitu Githua authority over the property now valued at Sh1 billion to facilitate irregular dealings without his approval.
The registrar says directors of Thirigitu Farmers Co-operative Limited, in 1995, applied to revoke the irrevocable power of attorney granted to Githua in 1993 “thereby misleading the land registrar who registered the document”.
“This action was irregular and should not have happened,” the registrar says in a report submitted to the Environment and Land Court on July 13. “Consequently, any further dealings on the land without the involvement of the donee, John Nderitu Githua, were irregular.”
The irrevocable power of attorney, registered as IR/A 27188/1 on January 27, 1993, conferred absolute and irrevocable proprietary powers on Githua over the Kiganjo property, including authority to sell, transfer, lease or otherwise deal with the land. Githua died in 2009.
According to the report, directors of Thirigitu, however, misled the land registrar into registering the revocation, to seize ownership of the land and pave the way for illegal transactions.
The dispute arose from the sale of a former colonial farm to hundreds of ex-workers and pits the family of Githua against Thirigitu Farmers Cooperative Limited over the rightful ownership of the land.
Githua, who served as Nyeri constituency MP between 1978 and 1988, funded the purchase of the land from a settler to settle the farmers, but the parties fell out later, triggering the land ownership dispute.
British settler Sylvia Durani Richardson.
Photo credit: Pool
When the matter came up for hearing before Nyeri Environment and Land Court Judge Evans Makori on Tuesday, the court was informed that the Chief Land Registrar’s report was served late, on the evening of July 13, to some of the parties in the suit while others alleged not to have been served at all.
“Because of this, we would like time to go through the report and understand what it contains,” lawyer Mwangi Kariuki representing Thigiritu Farmers Co-operative told the court.
The revelations of the Chief Land Registrar could have far-reaching implications for the long-running dispute, whose origins date back to 1983 when Sylvia Richardson agreed to sell 207 acres of her 257-acre farm to former employees for Sh1 million while retaining 50 acres, including the main house.
Unable to raise the purchase price, the workers turned to their then area MP, Githua, who agreed to finance the acquisition on condition that they register a company and grant him an irrevocable power of attorney to transact on the land until he recovered the money he had advanced.
Under the arrangement, the former farm workers would become shareholders of the company and acquire portions of the land through Githua, who would act as the sole transferor.
The agreement further provided that if shareholders failed to purchase the remaining portions of the property, Githua would be free to transfer the unsold land into his own name, at which point the agreement would automatically terminate.
The workers subsequently incorporated Thirigitu Farmers Co-operative, and the sale was completed through agreements executed in 1984 and 1987, with the title eventually transferred to the company.
However, the relationship later deteriorated following disagreements over whether Githua had been fully reimbursed for financing the purchase. This triggered a prolonged legal battle that expanded to include claims of an unlawful revocation of the power of attorney, disappearance of the original title deed and issuance of a provisional title that facilitated subdivision of the land.
Former Nyeri MP John Nderitu Githua (left) and British settler Sylvia Durani Richardson. A missing title deed for Sh1 billion disputed land in Nyeri which the former lawmaker and Thirigitu Farmers’ Cooperative, claimed, has resurfaced after 30 years.
Photo credit: Nation Media Group
Thirigitu Farmers, however, contends that he contributed only Sh537,276 while the company paid the balance. The cooperative further claims it agreed to refund him Sh240,800, with the remaining amount offset against 25 acres that Githua sold in 1994 to Nderitu Wachira after reportedly experiencing financial difficulties.
The dispute escalated in 1995 when company officials sought the release of the original title deed from Kembi & Muhia Advocates to facilitate subdivision of the land among shareholders.
The advocates denied holding the title despite intervention by the then Nyeri district commissioner, and the original document was never recovered.
In December 1996, a Kenya Gazette notice announced the issuance of a provisional title after the original was declared lost. The provisional title was subsequently used to subdivide the land and process individual titles.
Githua challenged the move, arguing that the original title could not have been lost because the High Court had, on July 29, 1997, ordered that it be deposited with the Deputy Registrar pending determination of the ownership dispute.
In an affidavit filed in court, he alleged that the provisional title had been obtained through misrepresentation and accused land officials and company representatives of colluding to facilitate the subdivision of the property.
He consistently maintained that he had financed the entire purchase and that the irrevocable power of attorney remained valid because he had never been reimbursed.
