The Koinange family has petitioned the High Court to demolish the upmarket Village Market and Tribe Hotel, claiming owners of the mall grabbed their land in a property dispute that has sucked in KCB Group.
The children of former provincial commissioner Charles Karuga Koinange want the court to declare them owners of the property and evict Greenhills Investment, which owns the mall and is associated with the Ehsami brothers.
They claim the owners of the Village Market and Tribe Hotel must have acquired the title to the land fraudulently and should therefore be evicted and made to pay them damages for illegal occupation or compensation at the current market rates.
The Koinange family wants the Sh8.5 billion loan that Greenhills tapped from KCB Group to develop Village Market be declared invalid.
Greenhills reckons that State records show they own the prime land and has petitioned the High Court to enjoin the Land Registrar in the suit to indicate the owners of the property.
Built nearly three decades ago, the Village Market was one of the first shopping malls in Nairobi. It started out with 10 shops, continued to expand and has remained a popular venue over the years with hundreds of outlets.
The owners of the mall say they bought the seven-acre piece of land that was full of coffee bushes to develop the shopping complex estimated to be worth over Sh15 billion.
The land is valued at Sh1.6 billion, underlining the stakes in the property battle that will be keenly watched by bankers.
The Koinanges want vacant possession of land and a share of profits the Ehsami brothers— Abbas, the eldest, Mehraz an architect, and Hamed, the youngest —have enjoyed over the decades at Village Market.
“In the alternative, full compensation to the plaintiff at market value or current valuation of the suit property,” the family says in the petition.
The Ehsami brothers strategised well to get customers back in the 1990s when Gigiri was considered far away from the city.
Gigiri, as a location, turned to be a favour as well.
Many diplomatic residences and the United Nations offices around it made the mall a preferred shopping centre for foreign dignitaries, whose taste is premium.
The High Court will hear the petition from Wednesday and the suit will add to the string of property battles that the larger Koinage family has fought in recent years.
Mr Koinange, who served as a senior chief and later as a provincial commissioner, was the younger brother of former powerful minister in the Jomo Kenyatta government, Mbiyu Koinange.
He died in 2004, leaving behind a multi-billion estate consisting of land, shares in various companies, money in bank accounts and other investments estimated to be worth more than Sh15 billion.
The family had been tussling over the distribution of the property and came to a settlement two years ago, after picking a mediator to shepherd sharing of the estate.
Koinange family lawyer, Ashford Mugwuku, says the property has been listed for distribution to the beneficiaries but the process cannot be undertaken because of illegal transactions, including the charge of the property at KCB.
“In the interest of justice, it is necessary to grant the orders sought to forestall further illegal dealings or transactions on the subject property and to preserve the subject matter of this suit,” Mr Mugwuku says in court documents.
The family says it has never sold the property or transferred it to anyone since their late father acquired it.
To support their claims, the family has tabled a lease dated November 16, 1983.
Mr Mugwuku further says the family has filed various complaints with the police but they have never investigated the matter while demands to Greenhills Investment for information over the land have also been ignored.
“The defendants have refused or failed to account, render requested information of particulars pertaining to this claim despite written complaints and demands by the plaintiffs,” the lawyer says.
Greenhills Investment wants the Chief Land Registrar and the Attorney-General to be part of the multi-billion shilling suit.
Sanjay Shah, an executive of the investment firm, says the Chief Land Registrar must be part of the suit as a custodian of all titles and searches.
He maintains that Greenhills is the rightful owner of the property, arguing it relied on the register and searches issued by the chief land registrar ahead of acquiring the prime land.
Mr Shah says the Registrar will help the court in the just determination of the case.
