A woman has sued her former advocate, accusing him of exploiting her mental illness to fraudulently transfer her multimillion-shilling Nairobi house, reviving a 17-year legal battle that has spilled into the High Court and the Environment and Land Court.
But the advocate, Chege Wainaina, denies the allegations and argues the ownership dispute was conclusively determined through earlier court proceedings and wants the State barred from prosecuting him.
Monica Jackline Wambui has sued the advocate, alongside the property purchaser Lucy Wairimu Mwangi and the Chief Land Registrar in the Environment and Land Court, seeking to cancel the transfer of House No 6, Casablanca Villas on Nairobi's Dennis Pritt Road.
At the same time, the lawyer and the purchaser have filed a separate case at the High Court challenging an intended prosecution over alleged forgery, stealing, obtaining land registration by false pretences and conspiracy to defraud.
The proposed criminal charges lodged before a Chief Magistrate in Milimani, Nairobi relate to the property transaction.
The fresh parallel cases filed before the High Court and the Environment and Land Court have reopened a longstanding dispute that has traversed civil litigation, appellate courts, criminal investigations and judicial review over the past 17 years.
Ms Wambui wants the property restored to her name. She contends the transaction was procured through fraud while she was suffering from a mental illness.
In her witness statement, Ms Wambui says she retained Mr Wainaina to represent her during divorce proceedings after returning to Kenya from abroad in 2005. She had purchased the house in 2002, the court filings show.
She says she entrusted him with original title documents, passports, bank records and other personal documents because she believed they were needed to prepare her matrimonial property case.
“I surrendered to him several original documents, including title documents relating to Casablanca Villa House No 6; documents relating to the Dennis Pritt Road property; my marriage certificate; my national Identity Card; passport and that of my late daughter; and various bank statements and other personal documents,” she narrates.
She says her health deteriorated during that period and that she was admitted to Nairobi Hospital for treatment.
"During the course of the engagement, Mr Chege Wainaina informed me that he required all relevant personal and property documents for purposes of preparing and compiling the matrimonial property portfolio and handling the divorce proceedings," she says in the witness statement.
Ms Wambui alleges that the title for the Dennis Pritt Road property was later redeemed from I&M Bank without her authority. She claims that the advocate caused himself to be appointed under a power of attorney and transferred the apartment before facilitating its sale to Lucy Wairimu Mwangi.
"I have examined the 'Letters of Instruction' and the Sale Agreement dated 2009. The signatures appearing therein are crude forgeries and do not match the known signatures of Jackline Monica Wambui," she says.
She also claims that although the defendants maintain more than Sh12 million was paid as consideration, "not a single cent was ever received" after reviewing her bank statements from the period.
The suit further alleges the conveyancing documents were "smuggled" into a psychiatric hospital and her signature procured when she was "completely unfit to comprehend, read, or legally consent to the transaction." Those allegations have not been determined by the court.
Mr Wainaina and Ms Mwangi have rejected the claims. In a replying affidavit, Ms Mwangi says she lawfully purchased the property in 2009, obtained a valid title, and that ownership has already been upheld through previous court proceedings.
She argues the fresh suit is barred by the doctrine of res-judicata because the dispute has been determined by the High Court, the Court of Appeal and subsequent proceedings. Ms Mwangi says Ms Wambui has resisted eviction since 2020.
“The plaintiff sold the property and has enjoyed the proceeds. The Plaintiff illegally occupies the suit property and has derived rental income for the last 17 years,” says Ms Mwangi.
The defendants have also filed a preliminary objection asking the Environment and Land Court to strike out the suit on jurisdictional grounds, maintaining that the issues raised have already been conclusively resolved.
“Neither the plaintiff nor the defendants have appealed the judgment delivered on May 18, 2020. Therefore the findings and resulting orders are final and binding to the parties,” says Ms Mwangi and Mr Wainaina in the objection.
The dispute has also expanded beyond the civil courts. Documents filed in court include a draft charge sheet proposing conspiracy to defraud, forgery and related criminal charges against Mr Wainaina and Mr Mwangi over the transfer of the Casablanca Villas property, which investigators value at about Sh45 million.
They want the court to “quash the entire decision of the respondents to charge, summon, arraign, and prosecute the Applicants in Milimani MCCR/E328/2026— Republic versus Chege Wainaina and Lucy Wairimu Mwangi.”
The pair has obtained interim directions as that case proceeds. In the Environment and Land Court proceedings, the judge certified Ms Wambui's application urgent and directed the respondents to file responses.
