In the criminal underworld, Nigeria’s Emmanuel Nwude is a legend.
Between 1995 and 1998, he impersonated Nigeria’s Central Bank governor Paul Ogwuma and convinced Brazilian banker Nelson Sakaguchi to invest in a new airport in Abuja.
Sakaguchi’s Sao Paolo-based employer, Banco Noroeste, released $242 million (Sh31.3 billion) to Nwude’s team, in the hope that the lender would get a $10 million (Sh1.3 billion) commission once the aerodrome was up and running.
By the time an audit by a Spanish lender acquiring Banco Noroeste unearthed the fact that there was no airport being built, several fingers had been burned.
Nearly 28 years later in Nairobi, hundreds of Kenyans are lamenting they have fallen for the same script, but with a different cast as court papers show how they paid millions for non-existent real estate properties.
By simply forging Land Registration (L.R.) numbers of properties, the fraudsters have clean paperwork they use to lure victims, many in the diaspora hence disadvantaged in personally doing due diligence.
Josphat Ndambo, a Kenyan living in the US was lured by a YouTube video dubbed ‘Asali Esate’ which Mizizi Africa Homes Ltd said it was developing in Malaa, along Kangundo road.
On November 18, 2021 he paid the full Sh4.25 million that Mizizi Africa Homes quoted for unit 24 in Asali Estate, a three-bedroom maisonette.
A real estate company and a former director have been asked to refund homebuyers after the firm failed to build the houses that had been paid for.
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After the payment, everything went silent.
''The developer then became unresponsive given he knew most of the buyers were from diaspora and rarely made inroads to Kenya frequently to supervise their project. The artistic impression provided showed a serene environment overlooking Mount Kilimambogo, doctored through technology to hoodwink buyers that the area is prime. We have now decided to pool the resources together and complete the project on our own after developer abandoned us,’’ Mr Ndambo said in an interview.
Mizizi Africa Homes Limited is owned by George Mburu, a former accounts manager at collapsed Banda Homes Limited. The firm has an office opposite Sarit Centre in Nairobi’s Westlands area.
In March, 2022, he paid the Sh4.537 million quoted by Mizizi Africa Homes for a three-bedroom bungalow at Peacock estate along Kenyatta road in Kiambu County. Mwangi was promised that the house would be ready for handover and occupation within six months.
Following unfulfilled promises, Mwangi took legal action. During arbitration, Mwangi and Mizizi Africa Homes reached a settlement on June 21, 2024 which was to see him get a refund within 60 days.
He has now sued the firm at the Milimani High Court in Nairobi, as Mizizi Africa Homes is yet to honour the refund promise.
Mburu loves publicity, and happily displays grand opulence.
In a recent interview with YouTuber and journalist Jeff Kuria, Mburu said he initially dreamed of being a hip-hop artiste before realising that real estate could get him swimming in money.
In the interview, Mburu said he eats life with a big spoon and is seldom bothered by “detractors” as he boasted of driving a Range Rover.
A spotcheck by the Nation on the Malaa and Kenyatta road proposed developments revealed that the projects could be dead as a dodo.
At Asali Estate in Malaa lies a dilapidated project. There is no electricity in the area. The Kenyatta road project, Peacock, only boasts of abandoned, incomplete units and tears of duped investors.
Mburu did not respond to calls and messages from the Nation to his known mobile phone number, despite multiple reminders over two weeks.
A few kilometres from the collapsed Asali estate project, US-based Mellen Bwari Okari is on the verge of losing Sh57 million after purchasing five houses from Willstone Homes Ltd in an off-plan arrangement.
Real estate investment requires careful planning and significant financial resources.
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Court documents reveal that Okari bought the property through her investment vehicle, Universal DoubleTree Hotel Limited, where she is the sole director and shareholder.
On October 14, 2022, she entered into a sale agreement with Willstone Homes Limited for five maisonettes in a project dubbed White Park Gardens.
Okari told the court that she noticed poor workmanship during a site visit and called for a meeting with the developer in the hope of having defects rectified.
She added, in court, that construction was done without the requisite approvals from National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) and National Construction Authority (NCA).
Willstone Homes wrote to Okari on October 4, 2023, in response to her request for an amicable resolution, stating that it was repossessing the units and placing them back on the market.
Okari hired a private investigator who found that contrary to the land registration numbers in the sale agreement, the property was actually in Mavoko, Machakos County and not Ruai East in Nairobi County.
“The copy of the sale agreements, the description of the suite property is White Park Gardens in Kamulu (NAIROBI) and constructed on Title Number Nairobi Block 3/90489 whereas the annexed title is Title Number Mavoko Town Block 3/90489. At the date of filing the Notice of Motion dated 19th October 2023 the suit land was described in all the pleadings and/or correspondences (albeit wrongly), that is, Block 3/90489 did not exist then and does not exist even now. From a copy of the search and green card, it is evident that title was closed on 5th August, 2022 and subdivision was done into 26 parcels to which no information was availed to the plaintiff/applicant,” Okari told the court.
The High Court on November 11, 2025 dismissed Willstone Homes’ preliminary objection which sought to strike out Okari’s case on grounds that the sale agreement provided for arbitration in the event of a dispute.
The court ruled that Willstone Homes Limited had ignored the arbitration process from the client for nearly two years.
Willstone Homes Limited in its replying affidavit has told the court it repossessed the units after the plaintiff failed to meet payment agreements based on milestones.
Willstone Homes Limited is owned by Ejidio Kinyajui who is the managing director. Other directors include Patrick Thuo Marigi and Victor Muusya Cosmus. The developer recently tapped Fabian Nzivo , the former chief executive officer of the collapsed Banda Homes.
Kinyanjui, Marigi and Muusya have registered a new company – Ubuni Investments – to conduct real estate business. Business Registration Documents show that Ubuni Investments and Willstone Homes share the same office in Park Suites, in Nairobi’s Westlands area.
Marigi and Muusya each own 40 per cent of Ubuni Investments, while Kinyanjui holds a 20 per cent stake.
Much like Mizizi Africa Homes’ CEO Mburu, Kinyanjui of Willstone Homes likes to show the world just how mighty his wallet is.
From flying in choppers to sitting in the first class of Emirates flights and driving top of the range vehicles, Kinyanjui credits God for his lifestyle.
“I am going through nothing. I am just enjoying a soft life. It’s all about me, God, money and opposite gender,” he captioned in a recent social media video.
Investors have been opting for real estate over securities due to the sector’s resilience.
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A first-class ticket depending on destination and timing ranges between Sh 1.5 to Sh2.5 million for a one-off return ticket.
In Mombasa and in Ruiru, the script is the same for hundreds of investors who paid Kenya Projects, a firm owned by reclusive businessman David Mureithi Kanyi, for houses through the same off-plan arrangement.
Kanyi targeted community-based organisations, registering amorphous real estate outfits whose proclamations won the hearts of their victims.
Kenya Projects had lopsided contracts, with clauses protecting him and the firm from liability in the event of delays.
George Gitonga encountered Kanyi nearly five years ago through a Facebook advertisement for houses in Kamakis.
An education policy Gitonga took out for his children years earlier had just matured and he diverted the Sh2 million payout towards securing a two-bedroom maisonette from Kenya Projects, and sold his car to raise the Sh900,000 balance.
Two years later, there was no progress on the ground.
Gitonga later noticed that he had joined a long queue of 36 other buyers who had fallen prey, and were forced to complete construction out of their own pockets.
In an interview, Gitonga said that despite completing construction, the Kamakis homebuyers are still in limbo, as they do not have title deeds.
“He (Kanyi) has since closed offices and relocated to Mombasa and keeps rebranding. We cannot say legally we own this place because we have no legal documents,’’ Gitonga added.
In Mombasa, Eva Mmbone Kiti, Nana Mohammed, Faud Ali Ahmed and Nana Khadija Omar wired Sh13 million for three bedroom maisonettes named Royal Palm Villas that were to be erected on a property number 1528.
In 2024, the trio sued after learning that Kanyi, through his Kenya Projects Budget & Executive Homes Limited, had taken a bank loan of Sh55 million on the same project they purchased.
Off-plan developments have become a goldmine for land fraudsters due to its poor regulation. There have been futile attempts to regulate the sector.
Kirinyaga Central MP Joseph Gitari floated a Land Amendment Bill to regulate the activities of land selling and companies.
The Bill seeks to amend the Land Act, 2012 to provide for registration, licensing and regulation. If it is passed into law, land buying companies will be compelled to deposit Sh500 million as licence fee before they are cleared for registration.
The fee is intended to refund victims in the event a registered real estate firm does not deliver promised developments.
Two years ago, land selling companies and developers established Association of Real Estate Stakeholders (RESA) to curb and discipline rogue players in the sector.
Victims, however, hold that the association has done nothing to rescue the sector after its members were involved in questionable projects which birthed court disputes with investors.
RESA chairman Chrispus Wachira did not respond to Nation calls and messages inquiring about the association’s members being implicated in fraud.
The Nation has learned of a rise in multiple awards sponsored by real estate firms and land selling companies.
The events are fixed to ensure specific firms win recognition awards. The winners then hire social media influencers to market the properties and state that the firms are critically acclaimed, hence legitimate.
In some instances, some land selling companies identify large, prime pieces of land and enter into an agreement with the legal owner for subdivision and sale to members of the public.
The land selling company promises to remit the sale proceeds, less commission, to the legal owner. Land owners are convinced that an escrow account, which requires consent of both parties before withdrawal of funds, is not a necessity.
After receiving funds, the land selling company does not remit the proceeds to the legal owner. On account of this, the owner does not transfer the ownership documents to those who paid for land.
At the end of the day, the land selling company has defrauded both the landowner and the buyers.
