In the midst of ongoing legal disputes involving USIU and Maestro Connections Health Systems over the property, all of which claim to have purchased it from the late President Moi, James Mwangi, CEO of Equity Bank, testifies in court that he is the owner of the Ksh 300 million of land that former President Daniel Moi originally sold to Muthaiga Luxury Homes.
On Friday, the Attorney General’s office informed the High Court that a firm associated with Equity Bank Limited CEO James Mwangi holds the initially granted title to the Sh300 million 20-acre plot of land in Muthaiga, Nairobi.
Dr. Mwangi testified in court that the late former president Daniel Moi personally shifted the land’s ownership after selling it to Muthaiga Luxury Homes.
The Lands Registrar informed the court that Equity Bank’s head is the rightful owner of the contested land in Muthaiga.
During Mwangi’s cross-examination, Allan Kamau, the AG’s state counsel, showed Judge Mugo documentation proving that Muthaiga Luxury Homes is the original owner of the land, which is in dispute.
Kamau led the bank executive through the paperwork evidence and proved in court that, following the completion of the Sh300 million selling transaction, the late President Moi transferred the land to Muthaiga Luxury Homes.
The late President had given lawyer Samson Omwanza Ombati and his sales representative, Andrew Sunkuli, permission to sell the upscale property in 2012, according to a police inquiry report that Kamau prepared on the land deal.
Kamau, who represents the Chief Lands Registrar and Attorney General, referred Justice Mugo and Dr. Mwangi to a police report by land fraud investigators Abdalla Komesha and Emmanuel Kanyungu, which demonstrated that Muthaiga Luxury Homes possessed the original title.
The late President complained about the property’s title loss, and Komesha and Kanyungu investigated the issue.
He had also submitted an application for a new title to the Ministry of Lands.
The AG notified the judge of the creation of a temporary title.
“Police should not have issued an interim title to the property when they learned that my company, Muthaiga Luxury Homes, was the original landowner,” Dr Mwangi said.
“Rather, they should have reported back to the Ministry of Lands,” he said.
He continued by saying that Moi had legitimately sold him the land and that he was the original owner.
Mwangi claimed that neither before nor after he bought the land from Moi had he ever seen a caveat put on it.
“In your opinion, you are the one who originally owned the property,” Kamau questioned Dr. Mwangi.
“Yes, I own the property, and I have the original title,” Dr. Mwangi answered.
On the third day of the ownership dispute over Land Reference Number 12422/19 in Muthaiga, Nairobi County, he was giving testimony.
Maestro Connections Health Systems, Muthaiga Luxury Homes, and the United States International University (USIU) are the parties involved in the ownership dispute.
All three corporations assert that Moi sold them the land.
Maestro asserts that it sold the property for Sh500 million, whereas Muthaiga asserts that it paid Sh300 million to purchase it from Moi.
