A company linked to Mombasa Governor, Ali Hassan Joho - Aftraco Limited, on Tuesday, October 15, was dealt a huge blow after losing a battle for land estimated to be worth Ksh6 billion to city tycoon, Francis Mburu.
Nairobi lawyer, Zehrabum Janmohamed, playing the role of an arbitrator, ruled that the contentious piece of land belonged to Mburu, The Standard reported.
Despite not having a paid a single cent for the parcel of land located at Jamhuri Estate along Ngong Road in Nairobi, the arbitrator ruled that a deal Mburu had entered with the initial owners -Kenya Posts and Telecommunication Corporation (KPTC) approximately 30 years ago, made him the rightful owner.
Janmohamed, in his ruling, stated that KPTC had signed an agreement with Mburu to develop the property through his company - Exclusive Estates Limited (EEL).
"It's declared that the Deed of Assignment dated January 15, 2009, between Postel Housing and Exclusive Homes (EEL) and the decree issued in this regards on January 22, 2009, are valid and binding on this tribunal," the arbitrator ruled.
Representing Joho's family, lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi had claimed that in 2011, his clients entered a deal to buy the entire parcel of land at Kshs1.52billlion.
He went on to reveal that Aftraco had already paid Ksh152 million and were, therefore, the rightful owners.
High Court judge, Justice Mohamed Warsame had ruled to remove a caveat placed by Mburu, paving way for the state parastatal to transfer the land to Joho's family.
However, in a majority decision at the Court of Appeal, Justice Sankale ole Kantai and Justice Hannah Okwengu reinstated the order barring the sale of the land.
Mburu has also been in the limelight over the controversial sale of a Ksh3.2 billion piece of land in Ruaraka to the government, a matter that is the subject of an Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission investigation.
