Kidero team given a week to respond to Sh1.5bn land case

What you need to know:

Mr Juma wants the court to order the National Land Commission to repossess the 1,600-acre parcel in Ruai he claims was transferred irregularly.
He is also seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting Renton Company Limited from dealing in the disputed property.
The Attorney-General and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission are also respondents in the case in which they have been blamed for not addressing the decades-old issue.

The Nairobi county government has seven days to reply to claims of corruption involving the transfer of a Sh1.5 billion public utility plot to a real estate firm.

Lady Justice Mumbi Ngugi on Thursday ordered Governor Evans Kidero’s leadership and directors of Renton Company Limited to file their replies to the petition by city tycoon and Erad Constructions owner Jacob Juma.

The hearing of the case has been scheduled for March 6 at the High Court in Nairobi.

In the petition, Mr Juma claims that the government land was transferred irregularly to the company and wants the court to order the National Land Commission to repossess the 1,600-acre parcel in Ruai.

He is also seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting Renton Company Limited from dealing in the disputed property.

In his petition, Mr Juma states that “prior to the transfer and registration of the suit land in favour of the Renton Company Limited on April 12, 1996 at 10.25am, the land had been acquired by the government and reserved for construction of a sewer plant and expansion of sanitary facilities in the city.”

He states that it was put in the custody of the City Council of Nairobi, now the county government, as part of the implementation of the Nairobi metropolitan growth strategy.

The Attorney-General and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission are also respondents in the case in which they have been blamed for not addressing the decade-old issue.

The petitioner states that “in breach of the intended purpose reservation, the land title was transferred in a manner manifest with corruption, fraud and abuse of public trust.”

“The suit land having been reserved for public purposes under the provision of the Constitution and Government Land Act, it was not available for alienation...the grant in respect of the suit land was registered in favour of the City Council of Nairobi at 9.30am April 12, 1996 and then hurriedly transferred to the first respondent on the same day at 10.25 am,” the petition reads.

Mr Juma says the transfer was conducted in breach of Special Condition Number 9, which prohibits the sale, transfer or parting with the possession of the property.

“The NCC having only registered the grant in its favour for 55 minutes could not have complied with the special condition,” the petitioner states.

He said the city council had no power to transfer the land and any purported consents granted by the commissioner were an illegality.