Buying land in major towns is a shortcut to an early grave

Tears flowed freely, women screamed as they wished authorities could come and eliminate them instead of leaving them to watch as bulldozers brought down their homes.
Others, especially men, watched as if in a trance as their palatial houses turned into rubble having left their fate to take its course amid heightened security by General Service Unit (GSU) officers.
Those were some of the scenes witnessed during the demolition of dozens of homes, schools, and churches erected illegally on East African Portland Cement property in the Mavoko sub-county, which kicked off last Friday following a court order.
Many lost everything they owned as they said they were never served a notice to vacate following the ruling by Justice Justice Anne Nyukuri in favour of the East African Portland Cement Company, the owner of the 4,298 acres of land on which they had put up their homes.
The demolitions affected both those who had spent millions of shillings in buying the land and low-income earners.
Despite their different stations in society, they were united in their moment of sorrow and despair after either having withdrawn their savings or borrowed loans to buy the property or worse still having sold their ancestral land to invest in the area, whose growth prospects were great - until now. 
The bulldozers did not discriminate between the permanent homes and the mabati structures in the area - leaving affected residents to spend the nights in cold nights. 

Susan Mwoki, a mother of two, told The Nairobian she had lived on the land for two years.
She says she was given a 50x100 plot by the Aimi Ma Lukenya society leaders, after doing manual work for them.
She constructed a one-roomed structure from where she sold vegetables to earn a living. 
‘’I sell vegetables to eke a living. My two children a boy and a girl have been schooling in one of the institutions that have been demolished. Our house was also demolished on Tuesday. I do not know what to do,” said  Muoki.

She says her children have been left without a school to attend as the institution has also been demolished.
 Agnes Njeri, another victim, said she spent Sh15 million to buy the land from the society and put up a house after being assured everything was in order. 
However, it has emerged that she like other investors was duped into relying on the mother's title, which hid the truth that the society did not legally own the land.
‘’When I bought this land four years ago, I was given a copy of the mother title and upon conducting the search at the Ministry of Lands in Machakos, the name that came out was that of society,” Njeri said.

I took a Sh15 million loan to buy the plot and set up a home

She added, “It is shocking to us now our properties have been demolished. For me, I took a Sh15 million loan to buy the plot and set up a home. Now, I have no place to call home,” she added.
However, the Mavoko saga is not the first time those seeking to invest in land in major towns and cities are finding themselves in a similar predicament.
It is a fraud that has seen lives destroyed, people commit suicide or die of depression and their descendants left with no inheritance, especially for families that sell their upcountry property to invest elsewhere. 
Nairobi lawyer Samuel Ayora advises that buying a land-based mother title does not prove that the land or plot one invests millions in is genuine.
“When buying a plot or land never rely fully on the mother title that will just show your acreage of the land and how it has been subdivided,” Ayora explains.
Pointing out, “There is another document called green card which will show you all the details including transfers and if it has any dispute or restrictions and many people are not aware of it,”.

The advocate observes even in some instances where one insists on getting the green card from the Ministry of Lands they could still be coned.
“The land issue is a big problem where some government fraudsters have formed a syndicate to make quick bucks from unsuspecting members of the public,” he explains.
Pointing out,” In some cases such crafty individuals in the ministry could easily collude with fraudsters who are out to make quick money,”
Ayora says the only way to ensure that a land document is genuine is to have physical access to the green card from the registrar of lands and not from other parties.
The Mavoko demolitions bring to mind the never-ending debate on dead capital.
The term was used by Professor Bitange Ndemo sometime back while weighing in on Kenyans who build mansions in the villages only to stay in them for a few days during the Christmas holidays.

Ndemo in an article in one of the dailies explained that such a mansion was some show-off since they don’t bring any returns and thus have no economic value.
Ndemo was quoted in part, “No matter how poor Kenyans are, they will still invest in unproductive assets. Culture dictates Kenyans' emotional attachment with their rural investments that are practically of no value at all.”

But another lawyer John Marura is against Ndemo’s explanations arguing that investing in the village rather than in the town could be another option to avoid the tears and pain of watching your multi-million shillings’ mansion being brought down in broad daylight.
“It is very hard to be conned in the village where one was born and if it happens elders will intervene and save the situation,”
“In towns like Nairobi, once you are conned while buying a plot it is the end, if you are brave enough to take the case to court it might take forever for justice to be served,” the lawyer added.

For this reason, the lawyer says he has no issue with anyone buying a plot of land in the village to put a mansion that he spends in it once in a blue moon.
Marura equally echoes that there is a need to engage a lawyer who will do background checks on the company you are buying land from.
“It is also wise to investigate if the companies you are buying from have been paying rates and compliant with Kenya Revenue Authority terms like filing returns lest you land in trouble,” he noted.
Another land expert Abraham Samoei advises that if it reaches a point where one is required to buy land in cash, then that could be a sign that you are likely to be conned.
The land valuer argues that the right way to remain safe is through bank transactions.
“That way, you will be able to keep the records like receipts that will be used to sign after agreements during the process of buying the plot or land,” he advises.
He says some of the things to look at include finding out if the person selling the land is an agent or the owner.
“Of essence to check is if the available title deed bears the name of the seller and it is worth doing a search since anyone can present a forged title,” Samoie explained.