Man secures Sh4.4m he had paid Akinyi

By Judy Ogutu

A businessman has secured Sh4.4 million he had paid to businesswoman Joyce Akinyi for a house.

The High Court in Nairobi ordered Ms Akinyi, the estranged wife of Anthony Chinedu, to deposit the money with Mr Ahmed Noorani’s lawyers.

Noorani had sued Akinyi for attempting to sell the Sh17 million property to a third party despite having entered into a contract to buy it.

He said he was apprehensive that if the money already paid to Akinyi is not secured, he was likely to lose the same.

He told the court in September 2007, he received an offer from Akinyi for the sale of the house, which was then under construction.

Akinyi, he claimed, attempted to sell the villa to a third party in breach of the contract. He says he paid a deposit of Sh4 million on October 1, 2007, for the house, worth Sh17 million.

Noorani says the agreement stipulated that six villas were to be constructed on the said property.

Dismiss motion

He claimed Akinyi had deliberately and fraudulently withheld the executed contract between him and her.

"There is a proper and valid contract subsisting between the plaintiff and the defendant. The plaintiff has already paid a deposit of Sh4.4 million, which is more than 20 per cent of the purchase price," the court heard.

In response, Akinyi had asked the court to dismiss the notice of motion, saying the application was misconceived and none of the prayers sought could be granted.

She said as much as it is admitted Noorani paid Sh4.4 million towards purchase of the property, "the money was expended towards the construction" of the property.

Through Kabiru and Company Advocates, she argued there was no enforceable contract on the basis of which the main prayers sought in the suit can be granted.

But yesterday Justice Msagha Mbogholi directed Akinyi to deposit Sh4.4 million with the Okong’o Omogeni and Company Advocates, which initially represented Noorani.

However, since Noorani changed advocates, Mr Joab Apopo, who argued the case, could make an application to have the money deposited with his firm.