The fight over the ownership of a property at Diamond Park in Nairobi’s South B area has taken a new twist after man claiming to have purchased the house through public auction took over the house despite a court order blocking the move.
Mr Ahmed Ali alleges to have purchased the property from Gulf African Bank but the owner- Hassan Abdi through Sagal Investment ltd, has disputed the claims maintaining he had a court order blocking his removal.
And this week, the buyer moved into the house and threw out Mr Abdi claiming to have obtained another order from Rent Restriction Tribunal.
The matter has taken another angle after Mr Abdi sought intervention from Industrial Area police Station after goons allegedly destroyed part of the house in the process of kicking out the occupants from the property.
“That the plaintiff/landlord is hereby granted leave to break into the suit premises with auctioneers for purposes of levying distress against the tenant household goods in order to recover the outstanding arrears,” the orders dated July 13 reads.
Mr Abdi, however, disputes the order maintain that he has never been a tenant. He further says the order from the High Court asking parties to maintain the status quo, supersedes the one from the tribunal.
The dispute started when Mr Abdi borrowed a loan of Sh66.5 million from Gulf African Bank through Beyruha Academy limited.
The deal was entered under Islamic banking facility diminishing Musharaka and Sagal Investment was the guarantor.
The loan was to be repaid for a period of 180 months (15 years) from November 9, 2015, according to the court documents.
The entrepreneur claimed that Beyruha Academy limited repaid part of the loan, but due to the closure of schools due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the entrepreneur was unable to raise money to repay the loan.
The bank later advertised the school for sale together with his the property on Diamond Park Estate, South B, then valued at Sh177 million.
High Court judge Wilfrida Okwany put on hold plans by the lender to auction the property on which Beyruha Academy Limited, stands.
As the dispute was pending, Mr Abdi entered a deal with the lender for him to dispose of the school, an agreement that was endorsed by the High Court on April 20, 2023.
Mr Abdi was allowed to sell the school and deposit the money in an interest earning bank account, pending the determination of the case. He was also directed to withdraw cases against Gulf African Bank.
But as the dispute was pending in the High Court, Mr Ali claimed to have purchased the house, sparking yet another dispute.
Mr Hassan later moved to the Rent Restriction Tribunal and obtained orders to kick out Mr Abdi but he was not granted the orders he sought.
When the application was rejected, he moved to the Environment and Land court seeking to overturn the decision but Justice M. D Mwangi dismissed the application.
The judge noted that Mr Ali was happy about the case when he initiated it until the tribunal ruled in favour of his opponent, and took a turn around and accused the tribunal or dealing over a matter it has no power over.
“The appellant should wait for the inter-partes determination of the applications pending before the tribunal before invoking the jurisdiction of this court,” the judge said on June 16, 2023.
