Property case is a disgrace, Kibaki tells court

By MURIMI MWANGI

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Retired President Mwai Kibaki stood in a court witness box for the first time yesterday, to testify on a property dispute he is involved in. Kibaki arrived at the Nyeri Environment and Land Court a few minutes to 10am, and sat in the courtroom for 45 minutes, before being finally called to testify.

In his calm and highly meticulous 30 minutes testimony, Kibaki narrated the genesis and growth of a Nyeri property firm, which is at the centre of the dispute. In the suit the firm, Mathingira Wholesalers has sued Kibaki, his elder brother and four elderly men from Othaya, over the ownership of a Nyeri building housing one of the best entertainment spots in the town. Kibaki was one of the nine Othaya natives, who founded the company, which later purchased the contentious building in 1976.  In the suit, Kibaki claims, other people have unscrupulously taken possession of the building and withheld rent proceeds from the building since 2008. Yesterday, Kibaki told Justice Anthony Ombwayo that he is unaware the transfer of ownership of the building to the shareholders who, in 2008, sacked the company director.

Kibaki, who was led in his examination in chief by Senior Counsel Gibson Kamau Kuria, said although he has been busy running state affairs, he never received any notice of invitation for the 2008 meeting, during which the director was purportedly sacked. He insisted he, and the other villagers from Othaya, are the legitimate owners of the property and the court would find that they are entitled to exclusive ownership of the building.

A number of shareholders enlisted as the plaintiff’s witnesses in the suit, insist the nine founders of the company relinquished the ownership of the building through perpetual sale of their shares. Peter Nderitu, a major shareholder who had testified earlier told the court Kibaki’s brother sold him all his shares, and that the latter ceased attending shareholders meetings immediately.

Asked about this, a seemingly witty Kibaki told the court that his brother is “a mature person who could speak for himself”. “It is not right that I should be asked that.

Of course he can speak for himself he is grown and he is even here in court,” said Kibaki. Kibaki told justice Ombwayo that he wished the dispute was resolved outside court as the court case, is a “disgrace”, since all parties have been friends for a long time. The case continues on December 11.