Former Tetu MP James Ndung’u Gethenji has defended the acquisition of a Sh200 million house at the upmarket Kihigo Village within Kitisuru, Nairobi, by Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru in 2015.
Mr Gethenji has applied to be enjoined in a case filed by Ms Waiguru and a city-based lawyer Chris Kabiro. Mr Kabiro,who is also claiming ownership of the same house in the Sh20 billion estate, has disclosed that he sold the house to Ms Waiguru in September 2015.
In the case filed under a certificate of urgency by lawyer Ishmael Nyaribo, Mr Gethenji says his entry into the case will assist the court to arrive at a fair decision by laying bare the truth.
Mr Gethenji has disclosed that evidence filed in court by his co-directors Gitahi Gethenji and Bob Gethenji in support of Kabiro is selective with the sole intention to defeat justice.
“It is fundamental that the court allows the proposed interested party (James Ndung’u Gethenji) to be enjoined in the case for the benefit of all involved and for the ends of justice to be met,” Mr Nyaribo urges.
In the case, Ms Waiguru sued Kihingo Village (Waridi Gardens) Limited seeking orders to compel it to conclude the sale agreement of the house she bought in 2015.
Mr Kabiro, who also claims to be the owner of the house, says Ms Waiguru bought the house when there was a court order restraining Kihigo Village (Waridi Gardens) Limited from selling the house nor mortgaging it pending determination of a case he had filed in the high court.
Mr Gethenji says a company resolution to enforce the sale of the house to Waiguru has been negated by his co-directors thus denying the governor legitimacy of ownership.
The former MP says he will be affected by the outcome of the case by Ms Waiguru and Kabiro due to his position as the CEO and a director of Kihigo.
Mr Ndung’u says he is the concept originator, project proposer and prime mover of Kihingo Village Waridi Gardens Development.
Besides his two brothers- Bob and Gitahi, their late mother Hilda Gethenji was also a director of the company that developed the posh estate with 55 uniquely built residential homes with a Sh5 billion Club House therein.
Mr Ndung’u says that he has been perturbed by the position taken by Bob and Gitahi in supporting Kabiro’s alleged fraudulent claim over the house yet they used the monies paid by Ms Waiguru to run company affairs.
He alleges that Mr Kabiro, who was the project lawyer, allegedly forged his (Ndung’us) signature to assume possession of the house in dispute. MrKabiro says he was allocated the house as part of his legal fees.
“The said forgery was confirmed by DCI’s forensic document examiner Chief Inspector Oduor J Mugen,” Ndung’u states.
Mr Kabiro, has also been accused by Ndung’u of failing to remit Sh86 million proceeds from the sale of the houses.
Evidence filed in court by Mr Ndung’u shows Mr Kabiro relinquished the claim he had on the house “in the presence of his late mother (Hilda), her brother and senior members in the legal profession.”
Mr Kabiro, the court papers state, raised the issue of ownership after the death of Ndung’u’s mother.
“On not less than two occasions Gitahi has led over 40 officers from the disbanded DCI’s flying squad to arrest me in the presence of my wife and children,” Ndung’u says in a supporting affidavit.
Mr Kabiro and the governor are embroiled in a legal tussle over ownership of a palatial home situated in the Sh20 billion Kihingo village (Waridi gardens).
Mr Ndung’u says contrary to the assertion by Gitahi that he could not transact company matters alone, he has sold 51 of the 55 houses developed in the project.
He also admits that Waiguru paid him Sh40,687,170 after signing the agreement.
Mr Ndung’u has given a breakdown of how the Sh40.6m he received from Waiguru was spent to service business creditors and liabilities.
The estate, comprising 55 homes developed by Kihingo Village (Waridi Gardens) Limited in 2007 at a cost of Sh2.5 billion, is associated with the family of former Tetu MP Joseph Augustine Gethenji, who also served as a permanent secretary at the Ministry of Labour in the government of former President Daniel arap Moi.
The dispute between Mr Kabiro and Ms Waiguru involves a double transaction on the same house –House Number D1. Ms Waiguru is alleged to have bought the house which had been sold to Mr Kabiro.
Justice Oscar Angote has since ruled that Mr Kabiro’s bid to strike out a suit filed by Ms Waiguru will be heard first.
“The application by Mr Kabiro to strike out Ms Waiguru’s case will be determined first as it will have a direct bearing in the main case,” said Justice Angote as he concurred with lawyer Titus Koceyo, for Kabiro.
The judge also stated that a preliminary objection raised by Ms Waiguru’s lawyer, Virginia Shaw, will be urged alongside her application to have the case consolidated with another one pending at the High Court Commercial Division.
Mr Koceyo opposed the consolidation of the two suits saying they are not related although the subject matter is the house.
“Ms Waiguru is following the wrong procedure in seeking the merger of the two cases since one is a commercial dispute involving transaction while the other is an ownership dispute,” said Mr Koceyo.
He said Ms Waiguru should file an application in the commercial division for the transfer of the case to the Environment and Lands Court and then seek the consolidation to avoid wasting judicial time.
Mr Kihingo through lawyer Gichuki King’ara sought more time to apply to support Mr Kabiro’s case for the striking out of Ms Waiguru’s claim.
