Man gets back Sh50m property illegally auctioned a decade ago

A palatial home on a disputed parcel of land claimed to have been dispossessed from Jackson Kamau Ndegwa. [Courtesy]

A court in Nakuru has handed a Sh50 million prime property auctioned a decade ago back to its owner after finding the sale process was illegal.

Jackson Kamau Ndegwa had his property in Nakuru’s posh Milimani Estate sold to a third party in 2011 and has been legally battling to have it back since 2013.

He filed a suit against Mercy Makena Chweya, the District Land Registrar, and Vijay Laxmi Shah, whom he named as respondents.

Kamau, as per court papers, owned the suit property and applied for its subdivision in vain. While stuck in the subdivision process, Kamau met individuals who agreed to assist him to subdivide the property.

The property was finally subdivided, and Kamau disposed of one parcel out of the two that resulted from the subdivision to Alice Wambui Njoroge. Bloc 12/223 or plot no 223, the court noted, was registered in the name of Kamau.

He had developed a nine-bedroom building on it, which he rented out.

Kamau stated that after the lease was issued for plot no 223 and registered in his name, Makena, the Land Registrar, and Shah colluded and fraudulently procured a certificate of the lease in the name of Makena.

Makena is said to have sold the land to Shah, forcing Kamau to move to court. Makena said she purchased the property at an auction which disposed of the suit premises in a case filed against Kamau in the Children’s Court.

Kamau admitted that such a case existed but charged that he was never involved in its hearing and that it “went underground” from 2005 when he applied for a DNA test, only to resurface in 2012 when a warrant of attachment of goods was obtained.

He said the land was advertised for auction. The auction took place on April 15, 2011, after it was postponed from March 16, 2011.

Kamau said there was a breach of the auctioneer’s rules before, during, and after the auction, noting that no valuation was conducted on the suit property.

He stated that though the venue of the auction was to be in Nakuru, the sale occurred in Nairobi and that by the time of the auction, Block 12/223 was not in existence and could not, therefore, be the subject of any auction.

Kamau faulted the transfer of the land to Shah carried out on May 30, 2013, saying there was an order of the court issued on May 13, 2013, barring the transfer. The Land Registrar, however, denied that any such order was served to them.

Kamau said that on April 7, 2013, he was served by his lawyer with breaking orders, which indicated that the suit property had been subdivided and sold two years before.

It was his evidence that he realised rather than acting for him, his advocates were acting for the opposite party. He said on April 8, 2013, auctioneers broke into the house and took items that were inside.

Makena and the Land Registrar said the land was regularly transferred to (Makena) after purchase at a public auction. Consequently, they state that her transfer of the suit land to Shah was valid.

Children’s Court

Makena said she came across an advert in The People Newspaper for the sale of land parcel No. Nakuru Municipality Block 12/123 by Muhatia Pala Auctioneers upon receiving orders from Nairobi Children’s Court Case No. 148 of 2004 - Sophia Mburu V Jackson Kamau Ndegwa.

She said she participated in the auction on April 15, 2011, and was declared the highest bidder. Makena said the property was then transferred to her name upon payment of stamp duty. She was issued a certificate of lease on March 20, 2013. Later she sold the property to Shah.

The evidence in the case, the judge said, left the court with the conclusion that there was fraud, illegality, and a corrupt scheme perpetrated against Kamau.

In a judgment delivered last week, Justice Mwangi Njoroge said the sale of the prime property was irregular.

The court ordered the Land Registrar in Nakuru to issue a fresh certificate of the lease in the name of Jackson Kamau Ndegwa.