Matiba gave back portion of Karen land to 'owner'

Muchanga Investments Limited's lawyer Cecil Miller addresses a court on June 28, 2017 regarding the ownership of a land in Karen. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Dimitri later said Muchanga Ltd sent their surveyor who rectified the boundary according to the original beacons.

The late Kenneth Matiba recognised that the Sh8 billion land in Karen belonged to Muchanga Investment Limited (MIL) by returning a portion which had been carved out by a surveyor, a judge heard Thursday.

Muchanga Ltd’s lawyer Cecil Miller said Mr Matiba’s daughter and proprietor of Hillcrest Group of Schools Susan Mwamto recognised the farm belonged to MIL whose shareholders are former Vice President Moody Awori and Mr Horatius Da Gama Rose.

“Besides the late Matiba, also the Ministry of Lands, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the Court of Appeal, the Kenya Power Company and tenants recognised Muchanga Ltd as the bona fide owner of the 134-acre farm,” Mr Miller said.

“Mrs Mwamto wrote to Muchanga Ltd that a surveyor will streamline the boundary of their group of schools’ land and MIL which were neighbours,” MIL general manager Dimitri Da Gama Rose said while presenting documentary evidence to show Muchanga Ltd’s ownership of the land.

COURT
Mr Dimitri later said Muchanga Ltd sent their surveyor who rectified the boundary according to the original beacons, leading to reinstatement of a portion which had been hived off.

Hillcrest Group Schools bought the land from Mr William Berliam Worner who transferred 20.2 acres from the original 160 acres owned by Mr Grattham Biddulp Norman in 1922.

Mr Dimitri, who was on his second day in the dock to elaborate on the ownership matrix of the Karen farm with three title deeds, said the paper trail traces the ownership to Muchanga Ltd.

EVIDENCE
The judge was presented with evidence from KRA, KPC, the Nairobi County government in a bid to prove that these government bodies recognised the land belonged to Muchanga Ltd.

Mr Dimitri produced a Court of Appeal judgement record, correspondence for payment of land rates between 1978-2013 from the Lands ministry, parastatals, bank statements and county government land receipts and cheques drawn in favour of Muchanga Ltd by tenants who were residing in two buildings built on the suit land to prove ownership.

The hearing continues.