A member of the Kenyatta family Ngengi Muigai is in dire battle with the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) over land in Kiambu County valued at about Sh3 billion.
Mr. Muigai lost the land to KCB through an auction after he defaulted on loan repayment. KCB later sold the land to Bidii Kenya for Sh70 million in 2007 after successful litigation.
The cousin to President Uhuru Kenyatta now claims that he has enough evidence to regain his piece of land two years after a three-judge bench of the Court of Appeal held that further litigation in the 25-year-old dispute had to stop so as to protect the integrity of the court process and also to protect the lender that lawfully sold the land from unending litigation.
Through lawyer Marete Githinji, Mr Muigai on Thursday told the court that he has obtained compelling evidence and another in his favour issued. Mr Muigai said he had not authorised the consent between him and the bank earlier entered in court and asked that the case be heard by a five-judge bench.
“The issues we will be raising are so serious because they are likely to affect several judgments issued by this court on the subject matter,” explained lawyer Githinji.
Muigai is not the first member of the Kenyatta family to get into a land tussle. Businesswoman Kathleen Kihanya, Uhuru’s cousin last year kicked off a storm over ownership of prime land on which a developer is putting up a Sh1 billion estate for sale.
Ms Kihanya who claimed that Banda Homes had misled potential buyers on the land, argued that the land belonged to the Kenyatta family, a claim the investors strongly disputed.
“This land belongs to my family and we are now in the process of subdivision and issuing separate titles,” Ms Kihanya said.
Banda Homes is developing 120 units of three-bedroomed bungalows on Kenyatta Road, on a 20-acre piece of land about three kilometres from the Thika Superhighway, which it has been advertising.