Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi and his wife Jane Wangui Mundia have suffered a major blow after they were ordered to leave a contested property valued at Sh1 billion in posh Muthaiga estate.
Other than vacating the land, which he claimed to have purchased from former President Daniel Moi in 2013, for Sh306 million, the court directed the Equity Bank boss to pay the owner Sh10 million for trespass.
The Environment and Land court ruled that businessman Anverali Amershi Karmali through his firm Mount Pleasant Ltd owned the contested property.
Mount Pleasant Ltd said it purchased the three-acre parcel of land from Moi era Finance minister Arthur Magugu in July 2006 for Sh130 million.
Justice Oscar Angote issued mandatory injunction directing the couple to vacate and surrender the land within 30 days, failing which they should be evicted by Gigiri and Muthaiga police.
“An order does hereby issue that the Officer Commanding Station (OCS), Gigiri Police Station and or Muthaiga Police Station, to provide assistance in the enforcement of the orders for vacant possession and in securing Mount’s quiet and peaceful occupation of the suit properties,” the court ruled.
The court further directed the Chief Land Registrar to expunge and cancel all entries, conveyances and titles relating to the purported ownership by the Equity bank boss and his wife , and to nullify the amalgamation of L.R. Nos. 214/20/2 and 214/20/1/1 into L.R. No..214/832.
Justice Angote said that the evidence by Equity bank boss and his wife was that they took possession of the suit land in 2013, immediately after the title was issued in their names.
On the other hand, the Mount Pleasant’s case was that its guards were arrested in the year 2013, but released, and continued guarding the suit property until March, 2020, when they were evicted from the suit land by Mwangi and his wife.
“In this regard, taking into account the acreage of the suit property, the location thereof, the duration of trespass complained of, and the value of the property estimated at Sh.1 Billion as per the valuation reports of 2022, the court comes to the conclusion that an award of the Sh.10 million would suffice, as appropriate recompense to and in favor of the Mount Pleasant ltd as damages for trespass,” Judge Angote ruled in his decision.
The Judge said although no conclusive forensic or investigative determination was made by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on claims of forgeries, the documentary record, when assessed on a balance of probabilities, discloses significant anomalies.
“While the court stops short of finding fraud attributable to Mwangi and his to the requisite standard of proof, which, as aforesaid must be proved to a standard higher than the ordinary civil threshold, it nonetheless holds that even if the nemo dat quod non habet principle were found inapplicable, the numerous procedural and documentary irregularities surrounding the conveyance, amalgamation, and registration of the Mwangi and his wife’ title would, on their own, suffice to impeach it under Section 26(1)(b) of the Land Registration Act,” said the judge.
Karmali said in the case at the Land court that sometimes in June 15, 2020, the lender’s CEO visited the land accompanied by police officers, who removed guards on the contested property and replaced them with others.
The businessman alleges that the records at the land registry were tampered with such that it is difficult to trace successive owners of the contested land.
He said he was forced to move to court to remove Mwangi from the property.
He also claims that he did a search at the Ministry of Lands and discovered that the file containing a history of the land was missing.
Karmali says he was advised to file a missing file complaint and he obtained a certificate confirming Mount Pleasant was the registered owner of the land but there was a twist later, as the Equity Bank CEO allegedly also showed up with a certificate showing they were the registered owners of the subdivided properties.
He says he purchased the property from Magugu and his wife Margaret Wairimu on July 21, 2006 for Sh130 million.
Court documents state that the former minister had charged the property to the National Bank for a loan of Sh10.5 million in the late 80s through a company identified as MDC Holdings Ltd.
The company allegedly defaulted on the loan repayment and the lender sued the company in a bid to recover the loan.
The lender and MDC Holdings later entered an agreement in October 2002 where he was to pay Sh90 million for the land, and part of which would repay the loan and the balance be taken by Magugu.
Before selling the land, Karmali says Magugu had planned to subdivide the property into two – LR No 214/20/2/1 and LR No 214/20/2/2 but he cancelled the plans.
He alleges that he later discovered that the title to the subdivided properties was surrendered to the Registrar of Title and amalgamated into one parcel of land now known as LR 214/832.
According to him, he was shocked because the company has never surrendered the titles to the properties and still holds the original conveyance of the properties and has no intention to surrender the properties or the titles.
