Former minister Gumo entangled in land dispute

Former Cabinet minister Fred Gumo has been dragged into a vicious land dispute in Nairobi’s upmarket suburb of Loresho, which is expected to offer yet another glimpse into the inner workings of the Land registry.

At the centre of the dispute is a portion of the 2.5 acre piece of land that businessman Rafique Ebrahim sold to Mr Gumo, but which has now been claimed by former Commissioner of Land Wilson Gachanja.

Mr Gumo is a former MP for Westlands Constituency, where the disputed piece of land lies.

Mr Gachanja claims that he acquired the five parcels of land that add up to 2.5 acres in 1995 before Mr Ebrahim illegally took possession of the plots and sold them to separate buyers, including Mr Gumo.

Mr Ebrahim who has moved to court for orders stopping his arrest over the land dispute insists he innocently bought the five parcels of land from other individuals before selling them to different buyers.

Court documents do not show how much any of the parties claiming ownership of the plots paid for acquisition, but land prices in the area vary from Sh75 million to Sh140 million per acre, according to current valuations by various property valuers.

Mr Ebrahim says he sold one of the land parcels to Mr Gumo’s investment vehicle — Endebess Development Company Limited — in 2011 but the former Westlands MP called him three years later to inform him that unknown individuals had settled on the land. Mr Gumo is a director of Endebess alongside Adil Daud.

Mr Gachanja insists that he acquired the 2.5 acres through his firm—Kerilaik Holdings while it was still listed as one parcel, but subdivided it into six plots.

One of the divisions was, however, demarcated as a road reserve, forcing Mr Gachanja to surrender it to the government.

“Sometimes in March 2014, I received a call from Adil Daud and Fred Gumo, the directors of Endebess Development Company Limited, persons to whom I had sold some of the said parcels, informing me that there were persons who had encroached on the said land after which I advised them to report the matter to the police,” Mr Ebrahim says.

Mr Gachanja was, however, first to record a complaint with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), a move that has seen Mr Ebrahim seek court orders stopping his arrest over the dispute.

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Mr Gachanja reckons he only discovered that the land had been grabbed in 2011 during a routine check on his land holdings at the Ministry of Land and Urban Housing.

High Court judge George Odunga dismissed Mr Ebrahim’s case, arguing that only Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko has the authority to stop the businessman’s possible arrest at the moment.

“Unless and until a decision to charge a person is made by the DPP, it is only in exceptional circumstances where the court would prohibit, a decision being taken either way by the DPP. It is upon the DPP to consider those factors and not upon this court to determine for him/her when such factors militate against the institution of criminal proceedings,” the judge ruled.

Mr Gachanja contends that while in the process of applying for new title deeds for the subdivided plots in 2003, documents pertaining to two of the parcels went missing at the Land registry.

But Mr Ebrahim says he bought the five parcels of land from previous owners — David Kipkemboi, Dominick Buttuk, George Kaiza Bautela, Barnabas Tembulio and Pheobe Nyangweso. The businessman says he paid for all five pieces of land before putting them up for sale.

Mr Ebrahim insists that the parcel sold to Mr Gumo was previously owned by Mr Tembulio but the DCI has sided with Mr Gachanja, having produced a report that corroborates the former Land commissioner’s statement.

Mr Ebrahim now claims that the DCI has been harassing him and intends to unlawfully arrest him.

He has accused Mr Gachanja of using the detectives to “settle other scores against me” but has not specified in court documents what grudge exists between him and Mr Gachanja.