President Uhuru Kenyatta’s kin to contest Sh700m property case at Supreme Court

 The Court of Appeal has allowed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s kin to challenge at the Supreme Court a judgement of the Court of Appeal, which allowed Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to auction its 433 acre farm in Thika over disputed loan.

KCB and two companies; Muiri Coffee Estate and Benjoh Amalgamated have been involved in a court case over property worth millions of shillings. The suit before the court of appeal has been pending in court for 22 years. At stake is the 433 acre farm in Thika, which KCB sold to Bidii Kenya Limited at a cost of Sh70 million through a public auction.

In a judgement delivered yesterday, a three-judge bench comprising Justices Patrick Kiage, Agnes Murgor and Jamila Mohamed said the battle is a matter of great public interest, which needs to be determined by the highest court in the land.

“The controversy between the applicant and the respondents in this case has not been fully heard in the multiple suits filed over the years. It, thus, satisfies the threshold of public importance since the issues raised require a determination so as to put the matter to rest,” the judges ruled.

The judges said the fulcrum of the case is “whether there were proper records both before the High Court and Court of Appeal, which could be relied upon in arriving at a just decision”.

In the judgement read by Justice Kiage, it was stated that the case that was commenced 22 years ago, has given rise to 18 civil suits. “A plethora of cases have stemmed from this transaction. Some of the cases are still pending in the High Court,” ruled the court.

Evictin orders

The judges said at the Supreme Court, the appellants will ventilate their case in a more elaborate manner.

The directors of Muiru Coffee Estate and Benjoh Amalgamated , Mr Ngengi Muigai and captain Kung’u Muigai, who have lost successive court battles, lodged a petition at the Court of Appeal seeking a reversal of eviction orders earlier granted in the lower court.

The directors were ordered to surrender vacant possession of the dispute property after losing at the High Court and Court of Appeal. Muiru Coffee Estate and Benjoh Amalgamated have been trying to salvage the property auctioned by KCB to recover the loan advanced to finance flower farming business in Nyandarua.

The appellant says the bank declined to release monies to harvest the flowers leading to huge losses. KCB moved to recover its loan. The companies believe that the Sh70,102,456 at which the property was sold was an undervalue, and say the plot costs Sh700 million. They claim the sale was irregular and fraudulent.

Captain Kung’u and Ngengi have been unsuccessful in blocking the transfer of the property to Bidii Kenya.

They also sought a declaration that the sale of land to the bidder was illegal and fraudulent and equally asked to be restored as the rightful owners of the property and that their liability to KCB be discharged.

In the precedent cases, judges ruled that the bank was at liberty to sell the property if the debt was not serviced as agreed.