The High Court has stopped any dealings on a disputed property in Giriri pending the hearing of a case filed by the family of former provincial commissioner Charles Karuga Koinange.
Justice Judith Omange directed Mitithiru Company Ltd not to transfer the disputed land until the case filed by Peter Mbiyu Koinange, an administrator of the estate of Koinange is determined.
She clarified that although she was not issuing an injunction against Mitithiru, the land ownership should not change until she determines the case. “It is in the interest of justice that the court hears all parties on all issues raised before making any orders.”
Mr Mbiyu says the land in Gigiri forms part of the estate of the late Koinange whose beneficiaries stand to lose the property.
Mr Koinange died in 2004, leaving behind a multi-billion shilling estate consisting of land, shares in various firms, money in banks and other investments estimated to be more than Sh15 billion.
Mr Mbiyu has filed a separate case seeking to recover another parcel from Greenhills Investment, the owners of Village Market and Tribe Hotel.
The suits have divided the Koinange family as Ms Isabella Wanjiku and Samuel Karuga, who are joint administrators of the estate together with Mr Mbiyu, their consent was never sought before the case was filed.
Ms Wanjiku Tuesday told Justice Omange of the Environment and Land Court that she did not consent the filing of the case and it should be struck out. Mitithiru Company said it has owned the property since 2008 and wondered why the family was filing the case 12 years later.
“The defendant is an innocent purchaser for the value without notice of the plaintiff’s alleged rights over the property as no claims for any competing interest whether beneficial, equitable or legal was brought to its attention or known to it at the time of purchasing the property,” said lawyer Ezra Makori.
