With seven months since the ouster of Evans Kidero as Nairobi Governor, dangerous land cartels that used to terrorize city residents during his reign are now facing the music.
Barely a few months after Kidero’s successor, Governor Mike Sonko sent on compulsory leave City Hall staff from the Land Rates and Legal Departments to pave way for investigations on how property owners’ in the city majority of whom are widows, the Asian Community, poor families and the aged in Nairobi lost properties worth billions of shillings to a cartel based at City Hall, on Wednesday, Kidero’s cousin Mr. Emmanuel Okello was charged before the High Court for grabbing land belonging to 90-year-old Guka Isaac Kamau Ndirangu situated in Nyari Estate which he later sold out to three different unsuspecting buyers in 2014.
Okello who is well connected with land cartels was released on a Sh1m bond or cash and surety of Sh300,000. Okelo who is Kidero’s spnnerboy is a director in various companies including Joem Consultants Ltd (the company which grabbed the Nyari property), Attain Advisory Consultants Ltd and Eastside Development Ltd.
Attain Advisory Consultants Ltd is the company which allegedly grabbed the Ngong Road property which comprises of 9 posh massionates worth over Sh1 billion belonging to an Asian widower Mr. Hawa Mohedin. The property was illegally auctioned on fictitious land rates claims to Attain Advisory Consultants Ltd for Sh30 million on 13/6/2014.
Hawa’s ailing wife the late Habiba Hawa who had just arrived from India where she was taken for treatment died soon after she was roughed up by auctioneers and armed goons who were allegedly hired by Attain Advisory Consultants to evict Hawa’s family from their family property.
Speaking after Okello’s arrest and prosecution, Governor Sonko declared total war on land cartels in Nairobi especially those based at City Hall.
“We have so far obtained a court order from the High Court to reverse the property back to Hawa’s family unfortunately, days before the last elections, the family was threatened with death messages and forced to fly to London for fear of being killed just like their mother. Investigations revealed Hawa’s family has never defaulted in paying lands rates since 1977, the Sh30m auction sum was never even remitted to the county,” said Sonko on his Facebook page.
Eastside Development Ltd also owned by the same Okello is alleged to have grabbed another prime property LR. No. 27399 situated in Runda from a society of the old aged called “ITE farmers” whose only property worth over Sh350m was also grabbed and auctioned at Sh20.5m on fictitious land rates claims to the said Okello’s company (Eastside Development Ltd) on 3/7/2015 however, the transfer at the lands office was registered on 12/2/2016.
Also the famous Kaitany’s family and that of the late Fredrick Kurumba Waiganjo is said to have lost their family prime properties in Kileleshwa worth Sh275m on LR. No. 209/9779 to the same company (Eastside Development Ltd) owned by the same Okello on 17/11/2014 at a throw away price of Sh16m.
Governor Sonko has now detailed how the land cartels used to operate under Kidero’s regime and how they grabbed prime property in the city under Kider’s watch.
Here’s is the statement by the Governor:
“This is how the cartel led by former senior executive officers in the previous administration, Land Rates and Legal department used to operate: Once a prime property earmarked for grabbing is identified, the Land Rates Department officers would tamper with the rates payments records and raise some fictitious claims to show the property owner has an outstanding debt amounting to millions, after that the legal department team will start the process of recovering the fake debt by going to court to attach the property at the Magistrate’s court.
Then the property is auctioned, after this the Director Legal Affairs Karisa Iha (suspended) would move to the High Court to seek for a vesting order for the property to be transferred to any proxy of the cartel at a throwaway auction price. After this and once the transfer is effected by the court the same cartel would again go back to court and obtain the eviction orders.
Finally, they will either look for a financier using the property as security and develop it or sell it to unsuspecting buyers. To make the case more serious, I have just learnt all these transfers documents were being drafted and executed by NJUGI B. GACHOGU OF NJIGI B.G & CO.
The ‘ADVOCATES’ who have been representing the grabbers in the transactions and husband to one of my current trusted senior staff in the legal department I retained from my predecessor’s administration.
The attached documents are self explanatory. My administration will never slacken in fighting corruption and land grabbing syndicates, I will not spare anyone in my government including those who have influenced their way back to City Hall behind my back even after I suspended them.
All thieves deserve to go to prison to learn a lesson such that when they’re freed they will respect other people’s rights to own property any where in Kenya as provided by the constitution Kenya.
Leave a Reply