Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi has accused the police of bias for secretly reopening investigations into the ownership of prime land in Nairobi’s Muthaiga neighborhood associated with former President Daniel arap Moi.
Mr Mwangi claims that the police cleared him in January 2020 after confirming the authenticity of his ownership documents and that he was free to develop the property “without interference from any quarter.”
He claims that the investigators failed to record statements about how he bought the property from the late President Moi in December 2012 for Sh310 million.
According to documents filed with the lands court, Mr Mwangi and Mount Pleasant Director Anverali Amershi Karmali are both claiming ownership of the property.
Mr Karmali claims he paid Sh130 million for the three-acre parcel from former Finance Minister Arthur Magugu and his wife, Margaret Wairimu, on July 21, 2006.
According to the Equity Bank CEO, the repeated and secret police investigations are intended to sway the ongoing lawsuit over ownership of the three-acre property.
He was successful in obtaining a temporary restraining order barring the Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin Haji, and the Director of Criminal Investigations, George Kinoti, from conducting new investigations.
“It is an abuse of power, irrational and unreasonable for the 1st respondent (DCI) to purport to conduct investigations on a matter whose investigations were already concluded and fail to give notice to the petitioners,” Mr Mwangi told the court.
After the police refused to grant him a hearing, Equity Bank CEO says he petitioned the court to stop the biased investigations.
Mr Karmali filed a court action in 2020 to evict Mr Mwangi from the land, calling him a trespasser.
The businessman claims that he purchased the land from Mr Magugu, who allegedly purchased it from former President Moi, in July 2016 through his company, Mount Pleasant.
The trader claims that the land registry records were tampered with, making it difficult to track down subsequent owners of the contested parcel.
Mr Mwangi, on the other hand, claims that Mr Magugu’s ownership documents are falsified because the land was originally owned by Mr Moi.
He believes Mr Karmali’s testimony is unclear because it claims at one point that Mr Magugu took over the land through adverse possession, or when a non-owner occupant of a piece of land gains title, and that the former minister acquired the property from Mr Moi at the same time.
Mr Mwangi stated that he purchased two parcels from the former President on December 19, 2012 for Sh320 million.
The land parcels were registered in his name in March 2013.
“That I visited the late President Moi to officially albeit informally confirm that the sale of the suit property had proceeded and concluded smoothly… We had a very pleasant evening with the [former] President discussing the salient aspects of the suit properties and our plans to develop the same,” Mr Mwangi says in court documents.
“Significantly, our purchase of the subject property was preceded by assiduous due diligence which established that indeed … the late President Moi was the duly registered proprietor of the said property after which the 2nd defendant and I applied for amalgamation of the two parcels of land, which was conducted with due regard to the due process of law.”
Mr Mwangi made three payments to ABC Bank, including a Sh32 million deposit in February 2013 and the remaining Sh288.5 million in March 2013. He also paid Sh12.8 million in stamp duty.
According to the CEO of Equity Bank, the Ministry of Land informed him in January 2020, via Muthaiga police, that his ownership documents were genuine.
“I, therefore, confirm to you that from my office, I am satisfied that the parcel as per the documents and confirmation from the Principal Secretary Lands registrar offices, the land is owned by your client James Njuguna Mwangi and Jane Wangui Mundia,” the Muthaiga police station boss reportedly said.
“Your client is at liberty to do any development that he might intend to do on the land without any interference from any other quarter.”
Mr Mwangi claimed that the new investigation was opaque and violated his rights. He believes that investigations should be transparent and accountable, especially when it comes to property ownership.
He expressed concern that, unless the court intervenes, the DCI would conclude the investigation in violation of due process and an abuse of the power to investigate crimes.
According to the Equity Bank CEO, he occupied the land peacefully until April 2019, when unknown individuals attempted to forcibly enter and evict him.
He reported the incident to Muthaiga Police Station, and the police launched an investigation into trespassing.