A widow of former Cabinet minister Peter Mbiyu Koinange has put a warning in the newspapers against land transactions done by her step daughter.
Ms Eddah Wanjiru Mbiyu, one of the late Koinange’s wives, following a High Court ruling made on June 26, 2019, has warned the public against buying land at the Closebum Estate in Runda sold by Lena Wanjiku Koinange.
“Any persons purporting to purchase or to have purchased land in Closebum Estate, Runda without the concurrence of the four court appointed administrators and with the sanction of the court to any such transaction have done/ will do so at their own peril,” the advertisement stated ominously.
CRIMINAL OFFENCE
The caveat emptor comes after the High Court nullified the transfer of approximately 88 acres of land to Ms Koinange and ordered her to surrender the title deed to the court within 14 days.
“Entry No. 44 against L.R. No. 22/2 (Closebum Estate, Runda registered in the name of the late Hon. Mbiyu Koinange) purporting to transfer approximately 88 acres to Lena Wanjiku Koinange was a nullity and a criminal offence under Section 45(2) of the law of Succession Act,” the notice explained.
Ms Koinange had earlier said that she had hived off the land and developed it in a bid to protect her mother’s property, even though she did it without the consent of the administrators.
The notice further states that only three transactions of the disputed land are legal, that is: 100 acres sold to investment company Centum, 260 acres to the Aga Khan Group which also includes 31 acres for roads and other public utilities and three acres to the Karura Community Chapel.
The vast estate of the late minister, which was estimated to be worth about Sh10 billion, has been in dispute for over three decades because he did not leave behind a will.