Jacob Juma’s estate in battle for land 4 months after his death

The late businessman Jacob Juma. FILE PHOTO |   NATION MEDIA GROUP

By BRIAN WASUNA, bwasuna@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The disputed land has been the subject of investigations by the DCI’s Land Fraud Investigation Unit (LFIU) since 2014 when KUSL recorded a complaint with the authorities.
• Auriel Marie, Joy Kimemia, Mary Wanjiru Chege, William Silala Sano, Suakei ole Parkire and Latoo Enepriakanga Nchepai have laid claim to the same property.

Businessman Jacob Juma’s family has been dragged into a vicious legal battle over a 5.5-acre piece of land in Nairobi’s upmarket Karen suburb, barely four months after he died under a hail of assassins’ bullets.  

Kenya United Sports Limited (KUSL) has filed a fresh suit, claiming that ownership documents in Mr Juma’s estate were fraudulently obtained and therefore bogus.

The land is also the subject of four other High Court suits involving six other individuals and Kenya United Sports Limited.

Auriel Marie, Joy Kimemia, Mary Wanjiru Chege, William Silala Sano, Suakei ole Parkire and Latoo Enepriakanga Nchepai have laid claim to the same property.

Kenya United Sports Limited has enjoined the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Keriako Tobiko, as respondents in the suit alongside the late Jacob Juma’s estate and the other individuals accused of using forged
documents in support of their claim to the land.

Kenya United Sports Limited (KUSL) wants the court to order the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Ndegwa Muhoro, and Mr Tobiko to arrest and charge Ms Marie for allegedly forging a letter of allotment that portrays her as the legal owner of the land.

Ms Marie had in 2008 sued Mr Juma, Ms Chege, Mr Sano, Mr Parkire and Mr Nchepai for allegedly trying to dispossess her of the land using forged documents.

The suit was consolidated with four others involving ownership of the same piece of land for hearing by Justice George Odunga.

KUSL now claims it was not aware of the suits before December last year when it was enjoined as a defendant, but maintains that it is the rightful owner of the property.

“One of the issues raised in the consolidated suits is whether the land parcel was allocated to Ms Marie, Ms Kimemia or Jacob Juma with the requisite titles to allow them to occupy the land. The mere fact that the said Ms Marie, Ms Kimemia, Mr Juma, Ms Chege, Mr Sano, Mr Parkire and Mr Nchepai hold certificates to the land is evidence that the offence of forgery has arisen and should not be left without legal consequence,” says Weston Langat, a director of KUSL.

Subject of investigations

None of the parties to the suit has responded, but Justice Odunga has granted them 21 days to file their defences.

The disputed land has been the subject of investigations by the DCI’s Land Fraud Investigation Unit (LFIU) since 2014 when KUSL recorded a complaint with the authorities.

The prime property’s value has not been divulged, but land in the Karen area sells at an average of Sh60 million an acre, taking the price of the disputed 5.5 acres to about Sh330 million.

Mr Langat says he and his business partner, Moses Raptul Lowasikou, were allocated the land on June 12, 1998 for a period of 99 years but they later opted to register it in the name of their company—KUSL which then subdivided the land into 10 smaller plots.

Details of how Mr Juma acquired a title deed to the land have not been revealed, but are expected to be laid bare by his estate.

Mr Langat says that Mr Juma was summoned to the DCI’s headquarters on Kiambu Road to record a statement on how he acquired his title deed, but he had not done so at the time he was killed on May 5.

READ: Cord demands probe into Jacob Juma's murder mystery

None of the other individuals summoned by detectives have recorded statements.

“The DCI summoned some individuals who have been termed as having same titles over the same land namely Ms Marie, Ms Kimemia, Mr Juma, Ms Chege, Mr Sano, Mr Parkire and Mr Nchepai who have since failed or neglected to appear at the DCI headquarters to produce their documents and record their statements,” KUSL holds.

The firm holds that its title deeds have already been perused by detectives on the case and statements from its directors recorded at the DCI headquarters.

Mr Parkire and Mr Nchepai in the consolidated suit before the Environment and Lands Court claim that they bought the land from Ms Marie after she presented ownership documents to them. Ms Marie claimed that she owned the land with her deceased husband.

“Ms Marie without regard to the rule of law and in a well-orchestrated move has engaged in a series of forging title documents with intent to defraud innocent owners off their rights which acts we now require this court to intervene at its earliest to avoid further degeneration of the rule of law,” Mr Langat adds.

bwasuna@ke.nationmedia.com