For one month, Nairobi County ‘super minister’ Charles Kerich has been going about his usual business with a warrant of arrest hovering over his head.
The warrant of arrest issued by High Court judge John Chigiti is the end result of a 23-year-old legal battle with a dramatic revelation – the Machakos Country Bus station, one of Kenya’s most critical bus termini, is privately owned.
While the courts affirmed that the bus park is owned by little-known Park Towers Ltd nearly 10 years ago, that information has come as a shock to several transport industry players.
The top leadership of the Matatu Owners Association (MOA) was shocked when we sought their views on the risk of such a critical terminus being owned and operated privately.
MOA chairperson Albert Karakacha and CEO Patricia Mutheu Musyimi said they have always known the Machakos Country Bus station to be county government property.
Many operators we spoke to were also surprised to learn that the bus park is privately owned as per Ministry of Lands records that have been affirmed in court.
Nairobi County CEC for Finance and Economic Affairs Charles Kerich during the reading of the county budget on June 29, 2023.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
“I have been here for 20 years, and I have always known it to be Nairobi County land. Nobody has ever come here claiming to own it. Every vehicle is charged Sh150 per hour and there is even a county office here to ensure that the money is paid,” said Mr Stephen Mwangi, a loader at the bus park.
Mr Peterson Kamau, a driver who has operated from the bus park for 13 years, said he once heard rumours that the land is privately owned, but dismissed that talk because the county government continued to levy hourly fees on operators.
On September 25, 2023, Justice Chigiti ordered for Mr Kerich’s arrest for failing to abide by a court award of Sh27.7 million to Park Towers, the registered owner of two pieces of land that host the Machakos Country Bus station.
Mr Kerich had been found in contempt of court for failing to facilitate payment of the award that has now grown to over Sh60 million on account of interest that continues to balloon Park Towers’ dues.
Park Towers sought the contempt charges nine years after winning an ownership battle with City Hall.
Aside from the pending millions that are still attracting annual interest of 12 per cent, Park Towers is sitting on a potential goldmine as the two pieces of land hosting the bus park are currently worth billions of shillings.
And as Park Towers chases down Nairobi County for its court-ordered award, stakeholders in the transport industry are now sitting on a powder keg as it emerges that one of the country’s most critical bus parks is privately owned.
Being private land, its owners can decide to shift into other business that would affect the bus park, and possibly spark a transport crisis.
More than 20 saccos and companies operate vehicles that start or end their trips at the Machakos Country Bus station. The vehicles move to different corners of the country. Dozens of small-scale traders also operate in and around the bus park.
The convoluted legal drama traces its roots back to July 1979 when City Hall rented the property to Usalama Peugeot Joint Services, a firm owned by Solomon Kitundu Munywoki, Joseph Mulu Mutisya, Peter Munyoki Kyengo and Julius Muthoka Ndolo.
Usalama Peugeot Joint Services would collect fees from public transport operators – mostly long distance vehicles – that used Machakos Country Bus station as a pick up and drop off point.
In March 1995, Usalama Peugeot successfully applied for an ownership transfer of the property from City Hall to itself. One year later, Usalama Peugeot sold the two plots to Park Towers Ltd for Sh16 million. City Hall consented to the sale.
The defunct city council called Mr Isaac Njuguna Nyoike, then the Chief Valuer who informed the court that there was no record of the consent of the Local government minister having been obtained for the alienation of the properties to the initial allotees.
Public transport operators at the Machakos Country Bus Station on December 14, 2022.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
Further, he said there wasn’t any evidence of any resolution having been passed by the council, endorsing the alienation.
Mr Nyoike, however, conceded that City Hall had consented to the transfer. He maintained that the land were public utility properties and were never available for alienation to any individual and any purported allocation and subsequent transfer was null and void.
The court was told that City Hall gave a notice to all traders operating along Landhies Road — outside market, including Park Towers Parking — to vacate due to deteriorating hygienic standards as a result of illegal trading activities.
In the decision, the court noted that the then Town clerk S.K. Ng’eno actively participated in an earlier case filed in 1997 and which was compromised as parties settled the ownership dispute.
An affidavit filed in court by former director, Legal affairs Aduma Owuor in August 2012 confirmed that the City Council was not the registered owner of the properties.
The matter was even discussed in the National Assembly on October 24, 1985 when Samuel Kivuitu asked who the owner of the plots was.
The National Assembly heard that City Hall was losing a lot of money in running the bus park, as individuals overseeing the property’s operations were not remitting much in daily fees. A decision was then made to lease the property to Usalama Peugeot Joint Services, which later acquired ownership before selling it to Park Towers.
Park Towers started collecting fees from public transport operators. It also developed the land, and claimed to have borrowed Sh55 million from Giro Bank Limited and Credit & Commerce Bank Limited to finance the process.
But on March 4, 2000, a group of City Hall officers walked into Machakos Country Bus station, kicked out Park Towers’ 20 employees and took over collection of daily fees from transport operators and vendors operating in the premises.
In June 2000, Park Towers sued City Hall for kicking it out of the bus park. The firm obtained court orders barring City Hall from collecting daily fees from transporters and vendors in the bus park.
That court order has been ignored for over 20 years. City Hall not only collects fees from operators in the bus park, but has set up an office to oversee business.
Records from the Business Registration Service (BRS) show that Francis Kirungie Ngatia owns 9,998 shares in Park Towers Ltd. Hudson Omemu Likuvi and Kepher Otichilo Susu each own one share.
Ngatia died on November 19, 2020. His family has since taken up his battles with other individuals over Park Towers’ ownership.
His lawyers declined to make any comment in relation to the Machakos Country Bus ownership saga. Ngatia’s family did not respond to requests for an interview.
Park Towers is in itself in the middle of an ownership battle that had split the company into two factions before Ngatia’s death.
On March 9, 2019 Mr Likuvi and Mr Susu were arraigned alongside Solomon Dominic Muathe, the businessman behind Tala-based property firm Saminico, at the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Milimani.
The three were charged with making a false document, uttering a false document and conspiracy to defraud. The charges related to Board resolutions that made changes to Park Towers’ shareholding, directorship and bank signatories.
In the allegedly forged resolution, Park Towers’ share capital was increased from Sh10 million to Sh20 million, as new directors – Mr Muathe, Julius Muthoka Ndolo and Stephen Munyao Ngewa – were brought onboard.
Mr Ndolo was a shareholder in Usalama Peugeot Joint Services, the firm that sold Machakos Country Bus station to Park Towers in 1995.
Mr Muathe, Mr Likuvi and Mr Susu are also accused of illegally introducing 200,000 new shares. The shares were allocated to Mr Muathe (140,000), Mr Ndolo (16,000), Mr Ngewa (10,000), Joseph Ndambuki Mwangangi (11,000) and Charles Mutuku Maingi (10,000).
Mr Muathe was made a director following the alleged boardroom changes. Mr Muathe was also charged with presenting a forged Board resolution to Giro Bank, which made him one of the signatories to the firm’s account.
The Park Towers ownership suit is slated for case management on October 31 before the Milimani High Court’s Deputy Registrar.
