Widow gets back house sold by fraudster claiming to be her son

Court gavel. [Courtesy] The appellate court in Mombasa has reinstated the ownership of a house to a widow that was secretly sold to unsuspecting buyers by a man who posed as her son. Margret Ali's house was sold by the impostor, Jacob Kilonzo Nzuki, to Asma Swaleh. Later Ms Swaleh sold the house to a second buyer, Said Abed. Ms Ali told the court that her late husband, Patrick Nzuki, was the registered owner of the suit property. Ms Ali said she inherited the land after Nzuki's death. She said her late husband leased the land measuring 40x60 from a Faisal Ali on August 1, 2005, and permitted him to develop a Swahili permanent house on the land. The widow said the lease agreement was on the basis of what the parties termed as a "house without land". According to the agreement, Ali's late husband was to pay a premium of Sh380,000, for which Faisal acknowledged receipt, and a monthly rent of Sh300. She said the late husband was also required to build the house within 12 months and that the tenancy was not transferable without the written. She said after the husband died, a man pretended to be their son to sell the house. Swaleh said that she purchased the suit house from Jacob, a man who claimed to be the son of the late Kilonzo, by way of an agreement dated December 16, 2008. However, Ms Ali said records from the Registrar of Persons showed that the identity card relied upon in the sale agreement was not issued to anyone bearing the name of Jacob Kilonzo Nzuki. She said the ID belonged to a female, adding that she does not know anyone going by the name of Jacob. The widow said she learnt that Jacob sold the house to Swaleh at Sh1 million. Ms Ali said that in December 2008, Swaleh later sold the said house to Abed on February 4, 2010, for Sh3.2 million. The widow said she learnt that the house had been sold in 2008. Justices Agnes Murgor, Kibaya Laibuta and Ngenye Macharia said that Abed acquired the said land from an imposter (Jacob) and not from the late Nzuki's estate. The judges said that prior to purchasing the suit house, Abed ought to have undertaken a thorough investigation into the suit house and its origins. "Had he done so, he would have discovered that it belonged to the deceased and that Asma Ahmed purchased it from a person who did not hold letters of administration in respect of the deceased's estate and who was therefore not authorised to sell the suit house," said Justice Murgor. The appellate court ruled that the sale to Asma Ahmed was unlawful, invalid, and incapable of passing a good title to her. "Having failed to conduct a proper due diligence on the suit house, we find that the Appellant (Abed) did not qualify to be a bona fide purchaser for value without notice. In view of the foregoing, the courts below cannot be faulted for so finding," said Justice Murgor. The appellate judges upheld the decision by the Chief Magistrate court and Justice Silas Munyao that gave ownership to the late Nzuki's wife. The judges said Abed did not acquire proper title to the suit house, having acquired it from a person who had no capacity to sell the property to him.

Widow gets back house sold by fraudster claiming to be her son

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Widow gets back house sold by fraudster claiming to be her son

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