Judge Voids Sh8 Billion Karen Land Titles, Declares Fraud by Four Companies and Ex-Administrator

Title documents held by four companies and a former administrator John Mburu to a Sh8 billion Karen land were obtained fraudulently, a judge had declared.

Environment and Land Court Judge Angote ruled that Muchanga Investments Limited, Habenga Holdings Limited, Jina Enterprises Limited, Telesource.com Limited, and Mburu acquired Certificates of Title for Land Reference Number 209/3586/3, situated in the Karen area of Nairobi County, unlawfully and fraudulently.

“An order be and is hereby issued directing the Chief Land Registrar to cancel and revoke all the Certificates of Title in respect of Land Reference Number 209/3586/3, and any sub-divisions thereof, which include, but not limited to L.R. Numbers 209/3586/202-398,” said the judge.

The land was claimed by Muchanga Investments, Horatius Da Gama Rose, John Mugo, former NSSF trustee Jos Konzolo through Telesource Ltd, Jina Enterprises, and Joseph Kangethe Wanyoike, who claimed to be administering the estate of Carmelina Ngumi Mburu.

Da Gama Rose went to court in 2014 to stop the subdivision of the land, arguing he had purchased it from Barclays Bank in 1983, as trustee of Arnold Bradley’s estate.

The purchase price was Sh1.25 million. However, the judge noted that the records presented in court lacked evidence of the sale agreement, proof of payment, or the transfer document.

He said Barclays Bank (now Absa) did not specify to whom the land was sold, how much it was sold for, or how the proceeds were used.

The court found that the negotiations for the property began in 1977, not 1982, and concluded there was no evidence that Muchanga Investments had paid for the land as claimed.

The judge also pointed to a letter suggesting that John Gohard Mburu had paid part of the purchase price, likely through his advocate, but there was no evidence of a completed transaction.

Justice Angote ruled that Muchanga Investments had abused its position by acquiring the land fraudulently, and since the Estate of Mburu lacked the sale agreement, it could not enforce the 1977 agreement.

The court also ruled that Telesource.com Ltd’s title was invalid, as John Mugo could not have acquired the property from Arnold Bradley in 1978, after Bradley’s death in 1973.

Justice Angote declared all titles issued after Arnold Bradley’s death fraudulent, ordering the land to revert to the Executor of Bradley’s will.

The court instructed the Public Trustee to identify the beneficiaries of Bradley’s estate within 30 days for the land’s distribution according to the Law of Succession Act.