Citizen TV Billionaire Sues Kinoti

DCI Boss George Kinoti Speaking during a press conference at DCI headquarters on March 5, 2020.
DCI Boss George Kinoti Speaking during a press conference at DCI headquarters on March 5, 2020.
Simon Kiragu
Kenyans.co.ke

Media mogul S.K. Macharia has instituted a case against Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti.

The content of the suit was a controversial Ksh2 billion land title that the businessman had bought from Mama Ngina Kenyatta in 1982.

According to court documents obtained by Kenyans.co.ke, the court ruled that the land rightfully belonged to the media mogul. 

Macharia told a leading news outlet in March 2020 that DCI Kinoti refused to give him back the title even after the court confirmed that he had genuinely bought the land from Mama Ngina.

Owner of the Royal Media Services Mr S.K. Macharia.
Owner of the Royal Media Services Mr S.K. Macharia.
Daily Nation

The businessman initially lost the title in 2001 after a criminal case was instituted against him.  The suit claimed that the title was acquired through fraud.

"We declare that the prosecution of the applicants amounts to harassment and is contrary to public policy and that the prosecution of the applicant (S.K Macharia) is a contravention of their rights. An order of prohibition will be issued prohibiting the court from proceeding with the said criminal case against the applicants," provided the three-judge bench of Justice John Mwera, Kalpana Rawal and JK Mittey.

The 4.7-acre of land located near Karura Forest in Nairobi has been in dispute since 1997. The contention began after Macharia tried to sell the land to Kenya Reinsurance Corporation for Ksh550 million.

Before the transaction was complete, President Uhuru Kenyatta's cousin, Ngengi Muigai stopped the sale, claiming that Macharia and his business partner Joseph Kibe had forged the titles of the land.

Kibe and Macharia were subsequently arrested in March 2000 and ownership documents related to the land confiscated by the DCI.

Court documents obtained by Kenyans.co.ke showed that the duo was charged in the senior principal magistrate's court in Kibera in Criminal Case No 2560 of 2000 with 5 counts including forgery and fraud. 

Kiambu County Women Representative Annah Nyokabi applauds, Ngengi Muigai and Dr. Ngina Kenyatta during a JKUAT graduation ceremony on July 31, 2015.
Kiambu County Women Representative Annah Nyokabi applauds, Ngengi Muigai and Dr. Ngina Kenyatta during a JKUAT graduation ceremony on July 31, 2015.

JKUAT

In his application against the DCI, Macharia protested the decision to withhold the title.

“They insisted that they cannot release the title unless there is a court order directing them to do so. In any case, I cannot be prosecuted twice because the previous attempt to charge me was quashed by the High Court,” he stated.

Macharia wants the court to declare that the holding of the title by the DCI as illegal and order its release. 

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