85-Year-Old Widow in Ksh18 Million Row With Bank

Magdalene Muthoni (left) attends to Hannah Wanjiku at her home in Harambee Estate, Nairobi.
Magdalene Muthoni (left) attends to Hannah Wanjiku at her home in Harambee Estate, Nairobi.

Hannah Wanjiku, an 85-year-old ailing widow is fighting to access her bank account in one of the local banks said to hold some Ksh18 million.

The money was being held following a dispute emanating from sale of a 5-acre piece of land in Karen back in 2005.

According to court documents, the dispute over Wanjiku's land began in June 2005 when she was approached by one Francis Mwaura Njinu, who sought to buy the Karen land for Ksh16.5 million.

 

A photo of a National Bank of Kenya (NBK)  branch in Nairobi.
A photo of a National Bank of Kenya (NBK) branch in Nairobi.

Njinu was allegedly required to pay KSh 1.6 million upfront with the remainder spread within a period of 90 days. Njinu, however, failed to honour the agreed timeline, and allegedly went on to subdivide the land into plots and offered it to a third party buyer.

“I was surprised when I learnt that Njinu had advertised my land in the newspaper seeking for buyers, yet he had not completed paying the balance as per the sale agreement,” Wanjiku is quoted as saying.

The widow revealed that she had wanted to build her retirement home with the proceeds of the land sale, prompting her to seek another buyer for the same piece of land.

Muthoki Brothers Company Limited took her up on her offer and allegedly purchased the land in July 2006 for Ksh 28 million and the money was deposited into her National Bank account.

The 85-year-old states that she withdrew Ksh 10 million from the account leaving Ksh 18 million, and which has remained locked in the account since 2007.

Njinu later sued Wanjiku for breach of contract arguing that her actions had resulted in him losing the benefit of his bargain and the profit he would have made from selling the subdivided plots.

The presiding judge, Lady Justice Grace Nzioka, however, dismissed Njinu's case ruling that there was not a valid sale agreement between him and the widow and that he had failed to meet the 90-day timeline as agreed.

Emily Ominde (left), Lady Justice Grace Nzioka (center) and Magistrate Abdulqadir Lorot during the swearing-in of two lawyers for the Tana Inquiry on October 1, 2012.
Emily Ominde (left), Lady Justice Grace Nzioka (center) and Magistrate Abdulqadir Lorot during the swearing-in of two lawyers for the Tana Inquiry on October 1, 2012.

Njinu was told by the court that he could not sell what he did not own, and Wanjiku had the right to sell her land to whoever she wished.

She was, however, asked to refund Njinu's Ksh 1.6 million along with accrued interests from the Ksh 28 million she pocketed from the sale.

Njinu, dissatisfied by the ruling, made an appeal, asking that Wanjiku be barred from accessing the money in her account. 

In a ruling delivered in November 2020, Judges Martha Koome, Mohamed Warsame and Jamila Mohammed dismissed the case and ordered that Wanjiku be allowed to access her account.

“We do not find any basis to stop her from accessing the money in her account or to stop the land buyer from assuming full possession,” the judges ruled.

The 85-year-old widow in her application to the court alleges that NBK has ignored court orders from both the High Court and the Court of Appeal allowing her to access her account.

Her lawyer Francis Kimeria told The Standard that the widow is ailing with no proper medical care yet her bank account has sufficient funds to accord her good treatment even in old age.

 

Lady Justice Martha Koome while she delivered judgments and rulings of the Court of Appeal via Skype on April 24, 2020.
Lady Justice Martha Koome while she delivered judgments and rulings of the Court of Appeal via Skype on April 24, 2020.
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