Nyagah barred from interfering with Tatu City land

The High Court has stopped former Central Bank of Kenya governor Nahashon Nyagah from interfering with a land purchase agreement between Tatu City developers and real estate firm Daykio Plantations Limited.

Justice Francis Gikonyo issued the orders on Wednesday after Kofinaf Company, which owns most of the 2,400-acre piece of land intended for the project, claimed that Mr Nyagah is colluding with his lawyer and several proxies to illegally take control of the property.

Kofinaf filed the suit on Tuesday alongside Mauritian firm Galba Mining Limited that was formed by Tatu City’s developers to help fund the land acquisition. Kofinaf’s suit is the second boardroom battle between Tatu City’s foreign and local directors in just three months.

Mr Nyagah and billionaire businessman Vimal Shah sued their foreign partners Stephen Jennings and Hans Horn in February over an alleged plan to kick them out of the project.

READ: High Court reinstates Shah, Nyagah as Tatu City directors

“A temporary injunction is hereby granted the defendants together with their agents from acting in a manner that will cause breach of agreement between Galba Mining and Daykio Plantations. These orders shall only last for 14 days hereof,” the judge said.

The foreign shareholders have, through Kofinaf, claimed Mr Nyagah is using his relatives and close associates registered as directors in one of the Tatu City-affiliated companies to transfer land valued at Sh9 billion to himself.

READ: Nyagah named in Sh9 billion Tatu City land scandal

They claim Mr Nyagah has hatched a scheme with his lawyer Nelson Havi to change the directorship of Purple Saturn, which holds the land in trust for project’s developers then take control of the property. Mr Jennings claims that some title deeds have gone missing at the land registry.

Mr Jennings holds that some of the individuals Mr Nyagah nominated for directorship in Tatu City’s affiliate firms include his sister-in-law Jane Gacoka, Nalia Ibrahim-a daughter of his longtime cook, and three members of the New Covenant Church where the former CBK boss is chairman.

“The beneficiary owners of the land also demonstrate that titles have gone missing at the land registry with Nyagah’s and Havi’s involvement, and company ownership and board composition files have been altered at the companies registry,” Mr Jennings added.

Kofinaf says that it has been engaged in legal battles with Mr Nyagah in Mauritius over the project, but that the former Central Bank boss lost and his shares in some of the offshore firms were diluted.

Tatu City acting chief executive said Thursday at a media briefing in Nairobi that development of the project, expected to start in July with building of 1,000 housing units, “will not be affected by the ongoing court cases”.