Forgery claims haunt Sh98m land deal to resettle 2007 IDP victims

A tent at Ndonga farm IDP camp in Subukia. [Courtesy]

The government may have lost over Sh98 million in a controversial land purchase intended to resettle victims displaced by the 2007 post-election violence.

The deal involved the acquisition of 755 acres from the owners of Ndonga Farm in Subukia, Nakuru County, for the resettlement of 260 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Documents filed in court indicate that materials used in the transaction between the then Ministry of Special Programmes and the sellers were forged.

According to the family's lawyer, Steve Biko, forensic investigations confirmed that the documents were falsified and the signatures did not belong to the eight sisters and their sister-in-law who were registered owners of the land.

A letter from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), dated October 31, 2014, confirmed that ten signatures used in the transaction were forgeries.

Biko noted that the forensic analysis had been ordered by the same court on January 28, 2013.

Irene Kanyi, Mary Nyambura, Wangechi Mburu, Winnie Muthoni, Hellen Mureithi, Zipporah Waringa, Hariet Wanjiru, Loise Wanjiku, Mary Wangari and Penina Wangui had allegedly signed the documents.

On March 9, 2012, the High Court ordered the DCI to investigate the authenticity of the Special Powers of Attorney document dated January 10, 2011, allegedly issued to Philip Kamau, a brother of the sisters.

The document was submitted for forensic examination at DCI headquarters on March 17, 2014, and the examiner concluded it was a forgery.

Kamau had been appointed administrator of the estate of the late Benjamin Njoroge following a grant confirmed on December 2, 1997.

However, on October 19, 2011, Justice William Ouko issued an order restraining Kamau, the government, and other beneficiaries from taking possession of, subdividing, or interfering in any way with the sisters' use and occupation of the land.

"Our elder brother and administrator of the estate in total breach of the trust violated all the conditions under the grant and sold the said parcel of land at a grossly undervalued price when he had no authority to do so," Wangechi stated in her supporting affidavit.

Kamau admitted having been approached by a government agent named Elizabeth Ndumia in 2010, who expressed the State's interest in their land. According to his affidavit filed in court, Kamau said he requested Ndumia for time to consult his relatives, who agreed to dispose of the land at Sh500, 000 per acre.

In 2011, Kamau said he was called again by Ndumia, who told him that the government had released money to Rachier and Amollo Advocates, asking him to make arrangements for collection.

He said he was told the government had released Sh130, 000 per acre making a total of Sh98, 150, 000.