Kenyatta kin seeks out of court settlement deal with Suraya

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 — updated on December 15, 2020 - 2 min read

Michael Muigai Kenyatta, Barclays Bank and Suraya Property Group on Tuesday informed Milimani Commercial Court judge Alfred Mabeya they were looking for an amicable settlement to settle a dispute involving the sale of 242 acres of prime land and had agreed to return to court on May 16 to report the progress of the negotiations. File

A member of the Kenyatta family is negotiating with Barclays Bank and Suraya Property Group to settle a dispute involving the sale of 242 acres of prime land out of court.

Parties on Tuesday informed Milimani Commercial Court judge Alfred Mabeya they were looking for an amicable settlement and had agreed to return to court on May 16 to report the progress of the negotiations.

Michael Muigai Kenyatta, the son of the late Peter Muigai Kenyatta has since been allowed to 44 acres to offset the Barclays Bank debt of Sh565 million but directed that the remaining 242 acres be preserved pending the outcome of the arbitration.

The businessman through Njomaitha Investments is embroiled in a multi-million legal tussle with real estate developer Suraya Group, British American Investment Company (K) Ltd and Barclays Bank.

Suraya Group director Peter Muraya moved to court seeking orders to block the sale of the land to the listed investment firm on grounds that Mr Muigai had undertaken a joint venture with the investor for the construction of Oak Valley Estate, a gated community in Juja, off Thika Road.

Mr Muraya through lawyer Njoroge Regeru informed the court that his real estate firm had signed a joint venture agreement with Mr Muigai and Njomaitha Investments to form Oak-Tree Golf Properties Ltd to undertake the proposed developments of middle-class housing estate.

The proposed development project was to build 751 houses on the land complete with a shopping mall, petrol station, primary school and two club houses. The units were to comprise 279 town houses, 472 apartments and two club houses built on 286 acres.

Mr Regeru said the parties had agreed to raise enough funds from the sale of the housing units to pay the bank debt and any dispute arising out of the joint venture to be sorted out through arbitration.

Suraya claimed it discovered that Mr Muigai and Barclays had conspired to sell the land to British American Investment Company for Sh700 million despite his investment in the project and that Sh70 million had been paid as deposit.