The High Court has summoned Naivasha Land Registrar to produce green cards for five parcels of land located in Kiambogo, belonging to the late businessman Amos Chege.
Justice Samwel Mohochi issued the order following claims that the registrar was allegedly colluding with Chege’s widow, Esther Njeri, to disinherit beneficiaries of the estate.
Mohochi took note of the claim of Chege’s son, David Karungu, that the registrar allegedly helped Njeri to fraudulently transfer the parcels to a third party without authority from the beneficiaries.
“The registrar is ordered to forthwith present to the court the green cards for the five parcels dubbed Kiambogo/ Miroreni,” ruled Mohochi.
He faulted Njeri for allegedly delaying the case for over 38 years, by failing to produce an account and details of the estate, including the valuation, being the administrator.
This was contrary to the court orders issued on February 2, 2023, where the court ordered her to comply.
“This court views the administrator’s action of forestalling distribution of the estate for over 38 years to an extent that the rightful heirs might never enjoy their entitlements as bizarre, selfish and distasteful. She deserves no equitable relief from this Court,” ruled Mohochi.
He gave the parties 30 days’ leave to appeal his decision.
The ruling followed a protest by Karungu against his stepmother and the Naivasha Land registrar.
He deposed that he had information to the effect that the subject parcels had been transferred to third parties without an order from the Court.
He accused the registrar of refusing to provide the necessary records relating to the parcel, despite several requests.
“I received the initial information on the intended transfer of the parcels in March 2024 and to mitigate the same, I moved to the land registry to put a caution on the land.
However, he said that the registrar declined to register the caution for reasons only known to him.
On May 27, 2024, Karungu said he instructed his lawyer to request the registrar to provide him with certified copies of the green cards and offered to pay the Sh5,050 fee.
He said he was kept waiting in the office until 6pm, when he was informed that he could not get the said green cards without a court order.
“I believe that the land registrar, Naivasha, is acting in bad faith and he is deliberately denying me documents intended to show the status of the parcels,” he submitted.
He claimed that it was evident that there was some form of collusion between the land registrar and Njeri to transfer the parcels illegally.
Further, he averred that although Njeri held the deceased's estate in trust for herself and his children, she was supposed to consult the adult children before dealing with the parcels.
In her response, Njeri claimed that the applicant was misconceived, bad in law, defective and an abuse of the Court process.
She claimed that the administrator of the estate finalised the distribution and was issued with a certificate of confirmation of grant on July 22, 1986
“I, being a widow to the deceased, administered the estate and transferred all the properties to my name as per the certificate of grant. The matter should be put to rest,” she deposed.
