Apostle James Ng’ang’a has told parliament that he bought the parcel of land where his Neno Evangelism Centre Church sits for Sh42 million from the Central Bank of Kenya.
The parcel L.R No 209/9640, located at the intersection of Haile Selassie Avenue and Uhuru Highway is one of the parcels on the radar of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on claims of having been grabbed by private individuals.
The anti-graft agency says the pieces of land were originally intended for use by Kenya Railway Corporation (KRC).
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Lands at a Nairobi Hotel Thursday Ng’ang’a explained how he acquired the land after it was put for sale by the Central Bank of Kenya in 2004.
“As I was preaching in Nairobi in 2004 after relocating from Mombasa, I saw a signpost by CBK written ‘Land for sale’. When I inquired, I was told the price was Sh32 million. They told me to pay 10 per cent and the remaining amount in 90 days,” he told the committee led by Mugirango North MP Joash Nyamoko.
Shortly afterwards, Ng'ang'a stated, CBK revised the price of the property to Sh42 million through a notice in Kenya Gazette, forcing him to apply for a loan from Equity Bank to buy it.
The tele-evangelist told the MPs that before he bought the property he conducted searches at the lands ministry and the defunct Nairobi City Council and discovered that the parcel was initially owned by Kenya Finance Bank Limited which collapsed and CBK took over its assets.
"We signed the agreement and I paid the money with the loan I got from Equity Bank. I finished paying the loan around 2008 and I was given the title under the name 'Neno Evangelism Centre',” said the pastor.
But trouble over the ownership of the land started haunting the preacher in 2020 upon receiving a letter from KRC notifying him that they wanted to reclaim the land for use.
"I told them I bought the land from the Central Bank of Kenya," he said.
He told the committee that he was later summoned by former Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia and former Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) Director-General Maj-Gen Mohammed Badi to clear the air on the matter.
“They asked me how I got the parcel of land and I was given by Bishop Margaret Wanjiru. They asked if I had the ownership documents which I showed them. They never called me again,” added Ng'ang'a.
The committee gave the Apostle 14 days to submit all supporting documents for ownership of the contentious parcel.
EACC filed several cases in Nairobi’s Environment and Land Court against private entities and former Land Commissioners accused of engaging in questionable land transactions.
The anti-graft agency seeks to recover five parcels of land at the intersection of Haile Selassie Avenue and Uhuru Highway, including the one owned by Neno Evangelism Centre.
This prompted the controversial preacher to petition parliament to intervene on the matter on ownership of the land on which the church currently sits.
