Court Awards Prime Muthaiga Land to Mount Pleasant, Cancels Title Held by Equity Bank CEO

The Environment and Land Court in Nairobi has ruled in favor of Mount Pleasant Limited in a long-running property dispute over a prime 4.1-acre parcel of land in Muthaiga, effectively cancelling a title held by Equity Group Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer, Dr. James Njuguna Mwangi, and his associate, Ms. Jane Wangui Mundia.

In a judgment delivered virtually on Thursday, Justice O.A. Angote declared that Mount Pleasant Limited is the lawful owner of the land, ending a 15-year legal contest that has drawn significant public interest due to the high-profile nature of the defendants. The judge described the title held by Dr. Mwangi and Ms. Mundia as “null and void ab initio,” meaning it was invalid from the beginning.

According to court documents, the disputed land—originally registered as L.R. Nos. 214/20/1/1 and 214/20/2, and later amalgamated into L.R. No. 214/832—was first sold by the late President Daniel arap Moi in 1982 to Arthur and Margaret Magugu. Justice Angote found that having sold the property then, Moi no longer had any proprietary rights to transfer when Mwangi and Mundia claimed to have bought the same land three decades later.

“Having conveyed the two parcels to Arthur Kinyanjui Magugu and Margaret Wairimu Magugu vide the conveyance dated 1st April 1982, H.E. Daniel Moi no longer retained any proprietary interest capable of being conveyed to James Njuguna Mwangi and Jane Wangui Mundia,” Justice Angote ruled.

Mount Pleasant Limited told the court that it purchased the land in 2006 from the Magugus for Kshs. 130 million and produced a registered conveyance to prove ownership.

In contrast, the defendants claimed to be bona fide purchasers, stating they bought the property from Moi in December 2012 for Kshs. 320.6 million, later obtaining a certificate of title registered in their names in 2019.

However, the court held that the principle of nemo dat quod non habet, that one cannot transfer ownership they do not possess , rendered the defendants’ title legally defective.

The defense had presented a forensic report suggesting inconsistencies in Mount Pleasant’s documentation, but Justice Angote dismissed the evidence, saying it was based on photocopies and lacked sufficient technical backing. “A forensic document examination, though representative of an expert opinion, is not binding on the court. It must be weighed against the totality of the evidence,” he stated.

The court also faulted the defendants for failing to exercise due diligence during the transaction. Their advocate, Mary Wangui Kiarie, admitted that she did not personally conduct an official land search at the Lands Office before completing the purchase, instead delegating the task to a clerk. The judge ruled that this failure undermined the defense’s claim of being innocent purchasers for value.

Further evidence from the Chief Land Registrar exposed significant irregularities in the registration process. The court heard that the conveyance had been filed under a reference number belonging to an entirely different property, that critical register entries were unsigned, and that no documentation existed to confirm the surrender of the original titles prior to amalgamation.

Justice Angote consequently ordered the Chief Land Registrar to cancel the title held by Dr. Mwangi and Ms. Mundia and rectify the register in favor of Mount Pleasant Limited. He also issued a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from dealing with the property and directed them to vacate the premises within 30 days. The police were authorized to assist in enforcing the eviction order if necessary.

The court further awarded Mount Pleasant Limited Kshs. 10 million in general damages for trespass, citing the land’s location in the prestigious Muthaiga neighborhood and its estimated value of nearly Kshs. 1 billion. The defendants’ counterclaim was dismissed with costs.

Legal experts say the ruling reinforces the need for rigorous due diligence in property transactions, even among prominent business figures, and exposes weaknesses in Kenya’s land administration system, where incomplete records and procedural lapses have often led to ownership disputes.

Unless successfully appealed, the decision compels one of Kenya’s most influential corporate executives to vacate one of Nairobi’s most valuable pieces of real estate, bringing closure to a complex and high-stakes legal battle that has tested the integrity of Kenya’s land registration processes.