Gachagua kin fight to save Sh1.2bn building

When he died in February 2017, Central Kenya billionaire Nderitu Gachagua wanted all his properties sold and the proceeds shared among 24 beneficiaries.

But in what could drastically reduce the inheritance, the National Land Commission wants one of Mr Gachagua’s flagship investments, worth Sh1.2 billion, to be demolished for sitting on a road and railway reserve.

Mr Gachagua, the first Nyeri County governor and a wheeler-dealer in the Nyayo era, bought the land in 2008 through his Vipingo Beach Resort Ltd. A year later, he put up 80 apartment units targeting the middle class.

SECURE SHARE

In a matter that is going to test the government’s resolve to clear all buildings sitting on road reserves, the late Gachagua’s estate is fighting back, led by his younger brother Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira MP), who is taking on the NLC over the 1.2 acre property along Nairobi’s Southern Bypass.

Court records indicate that the late Gachagua owned 89.94 per cent of Vipingo Beach Resort Ltd, with his daughter Susan holding 10 per cent and son Kenneth 0.05 per cent.

Mr Rigathi’s 0.01 per cent stake in Vipingo Beach gave him a similar interest in its Lang’ata apartments and he is fighting to secure his share, and those of his relatives.

ROAD RESERVE

Before he died, Mr Gachagua had since February 7, 2012, fought in court efforts by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to demolish his properties after they were marked for removal.

KeNHA insisted that the land had been reserved for road and railway expansion in the 1980s. It added that the Southern Bypass is part of the Trans Africa Highway, hence the need to evict the Gachaguas.

But High Court Judge Mary Gitumbi ruled that despite KeNHA’s insistence that the property was on a road reserve, there were correspondences between the Roads ministry and Kenya Railways acknowledging that some land parcels on the Southern Bypass corridor were owned by private individuals.

The judge added that neither of the respondents — KeNHA and the Roads ministry — had contested Mr Gachagua’s title deed.

153 PEOPLE

But five months after Mr Gachagua’s death, the NLC revoked the title deed, paving the way for KeNHA to demolish the apartments which are now valued at Sh1.2 billion. This was after a complaint raised by KeNHA.

It also appears that there was some confusion over the property. On March 17 last year, the NLC made two contradicting calls to the public. In a gazette notice, the NLC invited Vipingo Beach Resort to lay its claim to a 0.5198 acre portion of land that it wanted to acquire for expansion of the Southern Bypass. The notice directed Vipingo Beach to appear before NLC representatives on the second floor of Ardhi House on April 3, 2017. But on the same day the gazette notice was published, the NLC ran an advertisement in a local newspaper inviting 153 individuals and companies to appear before it, as the public land regulator was reviewing title deeds for their parcels of land.

HEARING DATE

Two of the most prominent firms on the list were the Gachaguas’ Vipingo Beach Resort and the William Ruto-associated Weston Hotel.

The complaint against Vipingo Beach had been filed by KeNHA, but when Vipingo Beach’s representatives showed up at Kenya Bankers Sacco Centre on Ngong Road, as directed in the newspaper advert, the hearings aborted. NLC held that it would announce a fresh hearing date — but this was not to be.

The Gachaguas rushed back to court in August, last year, arguing that KeNHA was using the NLC to go around its loss at the High Court — and judge Enoch Chacha Mwita issued an order temporarily suspending NLC’s decision to revoke the title deed.COURT PAPERS

KeNHA now says the NLC was not a party to Vipingo Beach’s earlier suit, hence the orders issued in 2015 could not bar the public land regulator from wading into the dispute.

“The court in JR 963 of 2012 was not called upon to deal with the issue of review of all grants or dispositions of public land and thus did not restrain the NLC from carrying out its constitutional mandate,” said Mr Thomas Gachoki, an assistant director in KeNHA’s survey department, in court papers.

Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua now insists that NLC went ahead to revoke the title deed before giving the firm an opportunity to be heard.

TITLE DEED

Nine people who bought some of the apartments have also joined the suit, and they argue that they would suffer losses if demolition proceeds. But KeNHA says any aggrieved parties can seek compensation from whoever sold them the properties.

The Lang'ata property was one of the most valuable of former Nyeri Governor Gachagua’s estate, and was slated for sale had the NLC not revoked the title deed.

He also owned Olive Garden in Hurlingham and Queens Gate Serviced Apartments and Spa in Lavington.