Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has been given a reprieve after the High Court declared him the rightful registered owner of a disputed Sh1.5 billion parcel near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
In his ruling on Thursday, Environment and Land Court Judge Oguttu Mboya said Mr Gachagua, through his company Wamunyoro Investments Limited, was the legal owner of the five-acre plot.
"A declaration is hereby made that the plaintiff is the lawful registered absolute owner of this piece of land known as LR NO 209/12077 L.R NO. 90923," Justice Mboya said.
The judge revoked the title deed issued to John Michael Ohas, a retired director of physical planning in the Ministry of Lands, saying the document was illegal, null and void and fraudulently obtained.
"A declaration is hereby made that the activities and actions of the defendants in relation to the official documents and records at the Lands Registry in respect of the plaintiff's land parcel were irregular, fraudulent and therefore illegal and that the same be accordingly nullified and cancelled," the judge added.
Justice Mboya ordered the Chief Lands Registrar to cancel all illegal registrations in the name of Ohas and Columbus Two Thousand Limited and to register Mr Gachagua as the owner of the land.
Mr Gachagua, through Wamunyoro Investments Limited, approached the court in July 2022 seeking the cancellation of the title deed held by Mr Ohas on the grounds that it was fraudulently obtained.
"A declaration is hereby made that the activities and actions of the defendants in relation to the official documents and records at the Lands Registry in respect of the plaintiff's land were irregular, fraudulent and therefore illegal and that the same be accordingly set aside and cancelled," the judge added.
Justice Mboya ordered the Chief Lands Registrar to cancel all unlawful registrations in the name of Ohas and Columbus Two Thousand Limited and to record Mr Gachagua as the owner of the land.
Mr Gachagua, through Wamunyoro Investments Limited, approached the court in July 2022 seeking the cancellation of the title deed held by Mr Ohas on the grounds that it was fraudulently obtained.
He alleged that Mr Ohas had fraudulently obtained a title deed in 2019 and registered it in the name of a company called Columbus Two Thousand Limited.
The suit listed Mr Ohas as the first defendant, Columbus Two Thousand Limited (second defendant) and the Chief Lands Registrar (third defendant).
On Thursday, Justice Mboya granted a permanent injunction restraining Mr Ohas, Columbus Two Thousand Limited and their agents from trespassing on the property.
Mr Ohas and the company are restrained from "excavating, carrying out any works, constructing any structures, subdividing, transferring, encroaching upon, alienating, interfering with or dealing with the plaintiff's land in any manner whatsoever".
"The plaintiff is hereby awarded costs of the suit against the first and second defendants only," the judge ruled.
Judge Mboya contended that Mr Ohas had failed to prove that he acquired the multi-billion shilling property through due process.
"I have found that Wamunyoro Investments Limited has established and proved its title to the suit property. On the contrary, I have found and determined that Columbus Two Thousand Limited has failed to prove its counterclaim," the judge said.
Mr Gachagua's prayers for general damages for alleged trespass by Ohas were rejected by the court on the grounds that it was he who was occupying the land and using the title deed.
The title deed was used as security for a Sh200 million loan taken from Equity Bank and the court found that Mr Gachagua's company had enjoyed the benefits.
The court ruling now settles the dispute between the DP and Mr Ohas after two title deeds were issued to them by the Commissioner of Lands.
The land was first registered in December 2002 in the names of Peter Nduati Mbugua, Pauline Mulinge and Karandi Farm Limited.
Through state lawyer Allan Kamau, the chief registrar said the land was transferred to Gachagua's company in June 2012 after he bought it for Sh24 million.
On June 27, 2013, the land was used as security for a Sh150 million loan and another Sh50 million loan from Equity Bank.
Records at the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning show that the land was allocated to Columbus Two Thousand Limited in February 1994 by the then Commissioner of Lands as unsurveyed industrial land for a period of 99 years.
However, the company did not make the payment until 17 May 1996, when it wrote to the Lands Commissioner accepting the offer, the registrar told the court in December last year.
The company made a partial payment of Sh50,000 on 16 May 1996, but the offer of allotment to Columbus Two Thousand Limited had expired and the land reverted to the government.
The same was allotted to Peter Nduati, Pauline Mulinge and Karandi Farm Limited for 99 years at an annual rent of Sh110,800 with effect from 1 May 1999. A title deed was issued to them on 31 December 2002. On 18 June 2002, they transferred the property to Wamunyoro Investments Limited.
The victory by Mr Gachagua, a former Mathira MP, is a major political mileage for him just months after he recovered Sh200 million that the state had declared proceeds of money laundering.
