The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has lost Ksh293 million in a shady land deal that has stretched over two decades.
Reports from the Daily Nation on Sunday, January 5, indicate that the loss was as a result of a shady deal between a reclusive Nairobi billionaire Mike Maina, lawyer Chege Kirundi, and other government officials.
The publication indicated that the land in question was excised from the Karura forest and sold to a private firm identified as Kitusuru Limited, which is associated with Kirundi and Maina in 1993.
The 45-acre piece of land was then sold to NSSF in 1996 at a cost of Ksh292.5 million despite it being originally government land.
NSSF, upon discovery that they had purchased gazetted forest land, attempted to recover the money but the Kibaki regime came into power, throwing their efforts into a tailspin.
One of the adversely mentioned government players in the scam was Moi's nephew and powerful Kanu-era politician, Hosea Kiplagat, whose political fortunes waned with the Moi government's exit after Kanu lost in 2002.
The case played out in court with both parties shifting blame to each other as NSSF pushed to have the money paid to Kitusuru Limited refunded.
Justice Lucy Gacheru, in a ruling on November 29, 2019, dismissed the attempts by NSSF to recover the money, stating that the necessary remedies should have been taken early on when the board discovered the anomaly.
"The NSSF board of trustees cannot try to recover the said money which was lost due to its own negligence and fraudulent actions of the persons who were entrusted to take care of the worker's pension," he stated.
"If there was a fraud, NSSF was deep in it. Further, there is no evidence. What is clear is that the plaintiff, some government officials in cahoots with other parties who are not in the suit, colluded in having the transaction carried out in such haste. The plaintiff (NSSF) is therefore not an innocent buyer without notice," Gacheru concluded as she dismissed the case.
