CJ’s Sh310m home bought while under bank ownership

The Judiciary bought the Sh310 million palatial home for Chief Justice Willy Mutunga while being a property of a bank that took its title deed in exchange of a multi-million shilling loan.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) last week revealed that property was held by a bank at time the Judiciary bought it from Machakos senator Johnstone Muthama.

This is the latest lapse to dog the property deal that was bought using an incomplete valuation report, acquired from the highest bidder and without furnishings.

The Judiciary also closed the deal before accessing details like the status of the lease, charges on the property and physical view of the property — which Dr Mutunga is yet to occupy nearly two years after its purchase.

“At the time the Judiciary purchased the property Runda 131, it was still charged to a bank for Sh80,000,000 and thus encumbered,” the EACC notes in the latest Kenya Gazette notice.

Chief Registrar Anne Amadi told parliamentary Public Accounts Committee in August that the Judiciary was yet to receive the title for the property bought in April 2013. It is not clear whether the title was withheld by the undisclosed bank.

Normally, transfer documents are signed at the conclusion of a property purchase transaction.

“Investigations further revealed that whereas the tender was for a fully furnished residential property, the award made was exclusive of furniture,” said the EACC.

“Whereas the Evaluation committee recommended that the tender for the purchase of a residence for the Chief Justice be awarded to the lowest evaluated bidder, the tender was awarded to a non-responsive bidder at a higher bid price.”

Former Chief Registrar Gladys Boss Shollei, her deputy Francis Kakai Kissinger and members of the Judiciary Tender Committee are in court over the irregular purchase of the house.

READ: Shollei links Chief Justice house charges to politics

The irregular purchase of the house brought Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Enterprises at the centre of the storm last year.

The Auditor-General asked the Judiciary to seek refunds and re-negotiate lease contracts for its partial occupancy of Rahimtullah Towers in Nairobi, underlining the questionable real estate deals closed by the department.

The office space was leased in July and comes with an annual rent of Sh39.4 million. The Judiciary also paid a six-month deposit based on rent effective July 2017, translating to an over payment of Sh1.08 million per month.

Besides Rahimtullah Towers and CJ’s house, Elgon Place, leased for the Court of Appeal in a six-year deal worth Sh420.6 million, was not unoccupied by the judges.

Construction and repairs of court rooms are now handled by a new internal unit of the Judiciary to curb delays and inefficiencies by external contractors.

The Judiciary said the unit, known as the directorate of building services, would help accelerate its real estate projects and boost expansion of service delivery across the country.

The unit, which is headed by an architect and staffed with valuers, engineers, electricians and surveyors, comes in the wake of the recent loss of millions of shillings through questionable property deals.