Rigathi Gachagua, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) deputy presidential running mate, has sued a retired civil servant over a Sh1.5 billion parcel of land near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
According to Mr. Gachagua, Mr. John Michael Ohas obtained a title deed illegally in December 2019 and registered it in the name of his company, Columbus Two Thousand Ltd.
Mr Ohas initially sued the Mathira MP, claiming that his title deed was fraudulent, but he allegedly withdrew the case last month to avoid Mr Gachagua’s counter-suit.
“After tampering with the records at the Lands office and illegally obtaining the second title and thereby purportedly extinguishing the plaintiff’s title from the records, the defendants then withdrew the suit without the same being determined on merits,” he said through his lawyer Philip Nyachoti.
Mr Gachagua claims to have paid Sh24 million to acquire the land from Mr Peter Nduati and Ms Pauline Muringe, who owned it through Karandi Farm Ltd. He claims the duo were given the land in 1999 for Sh554,000.
According to the MP, the land is currently charged at Equity Bank for a loan of Sh200 million.
Mr Ohas, a former director of physical planning in the Ministry of Lands, claimed in his case that former President Daniel Moi allocated him the plot in 1994.
He claims he later discovered the land had been transferred to Wamunyoro Investment Ltd, of which the MP and his wife are listed as directors.
In April 2017, Mr Ohas sought the intervention of the National Land Commission (NLC). On July 17, 2017, the NLC upheld the title in favor of Wamunyoro Investment Ltd and published it in the Kenya Gazette.
According to Mr. Gachagua, the NLC’s decision was later upheld by the High Court in November 2020, but Mr. Ohas filed a new case but withdrew it in June 2022.
He is now requesting that the court declare him the owner of the property.
He is also seeking monetary compensation.
