House team calls in National Bank bosses over sale of plots

The top management of National Bank (NBK) has been summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee to shed light on the controversial sale of three out of 13 parcels of land belonging to the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) that had been charged to the lender.

The Public Investment Committee (PIC) was on Tuesday told that three of the eight properties that NBK had accounted for had been sold to third parties despite the government settling a loan of Sh160 million on behalf of KMC.

The management of the bank will also be required to explain the whereabouts of five titles that KMC charged to it as security for the loan.

Acting KMC company secretary Vincent Akarah told the committee that NBK had only accounted for eight of the 13 titles that were charged for the loan.

“We have received certified copies of eight of the 13 properties that were charged to NBK. NBK says it’s still reconciling its records in order to release them to us. We have a debenture that they signed showing that 13 properties were charged to secure the Sh160 million loan,” he said.

In Tuesday’s committee hearing, the KMC acting managing commissioner James Tendwa was hard pressed to explain why the meat processor had failed to secure its titles two years after the government settled the loan with the bank.

Committee vice-chairman Kimani Ichung’wa directed that the NBK managing director Munir Ahmed be summoned to appear before the team to explain how prime KMC plots in Kitusuru, Riverside Drive and Mombasa-Kibarani were disposed of to third parties yet the lender held the original titles.

The KMC management told MPs that titles for plot 511 in Mombasa Kibarani, plot 17/66 in Kitusuru Nairobi and Riverside Drive also in Nairobi were missing.

The plots, it was claimed had been grabbed or sold to third parties without KMC’s knowledge.

Mr Akarah said a search conducted in 2013 showed that the 13 pieces of land charged to NBK belonged to KMC.

“Plot 511 in Mombasa-Kibarani was purportedly auctioned by then Mombasa Municipal Council over a Sh3.3 million rates debt. The plot was allegedly sold to Safeway limited at a cost of Sh12 million. But when the valuation conducted by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, which has taken the matter to court on our behalf, the value was establihesed to be Sh100 million,” said Mr Akarah.

The committee read collusion in the disposal of the one-and-half-acre plot in Mombasa.

Mr Akarah said records show that the rates, which had been outstanding since 1997, had been cleared in 2004 and that KMC had in fact overpaid the rates to the council by over Sh500,000 by 2007 when the plot was allegedly auctioned. In the case of parcel 17/66 in Kitusuru, Mr Akarah said the land was sold during receivership in 1999.

“This is the most prime property that NBK purportedly sold. I have documents that disallowed the sale which we have forwarded to EACC and National Land Commission to investigate,” he told the committee.

Mr Akarah said the ministry of Agriculture had instructed the then receiver manager not to dispose of any property of KMC. He claimed the property was sold to Shanash Investment limited, which has since re-developed it.

“When I went to NBK to confirm our titles, I found one letter directing NBK not to sell the property. They were to only sell canned beef and not land or vehicles. They (NBK) may have used that exit to sell the property. We wrote to EACC to investigate whether the sale was genuine. This was among the titles charged to the bank,” he said.