In our three parts investigation into the fight for the soul of a 54 years old land buying company, The Informer Media Group uncovers for you the murky dealings including gruesome murder of officials that has dogged the Githunguri Constituency Ranching Company Limited (GCRCL) since its inception on August 23, 1969.
Our in-depth dive pinpoints the genesis of deep-rooted infighting between two rival factions for the control of the private company controlling properties worth billions of shillings spanning for over two decades now and marred by multiple court cases, allegations of fraud, misappropriation of funds amounting to hundreds of millions, land dispossession, double allocation of land and manipulation of land records.
Worse still, gangland-style executions of directors and multiple police cases into life threats allegedly issued to members and attributed to the leadership wrangles manifest the murky operations of the land buying company headed by John Maina Mburu who has retained the chairmanship position for 14 years in a row since his controversial election in 2009.
For the last three years now, the company has not held the Annual General Meeting (AGM) as required by law.
According to our investigations, records at the Registrar of Companies at Sheria House show the current directors are; Charles Ngugi Njenga (Secretary), Philip Kariuki Gathenge (Director), John Githinji Mwangi (Director), Grace Wachinga Muchai (Director), Peter Mwangi Muturi (Director) and John Maina Mburu (Director) who also doubles as the chairman.
Maina’s ascendancy to the helm of the embattled company was marred by disagreements and protracted court cases.
However, in 2016, through a High Court ruling, Justice Weldon Korir confirmed Mania and his directors as the bonafide office bearers.
On May 25, 2016 while delivering ruling on a case relating to a leadership dispute at Githunguri Constituency Ranching, Justice Korir, in his own words said that the court process was being abused and time wasted by the warring groups fight for power to an extent of hurting the firm’s operations.
According to the judge, the leadership row was resolved on December 17, 2015 when Register of Companies presided over an election following an order by Justice John Mutungi which was made on November 10, 2014.
But the fight for power between the two groups; one aligned to Maina, the current chairman and a rival group allied to Ahmed Chege and former chairman John Rimui Waweru which have made the courts and multiple criminal cases at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) their theatre appears far from over.
At one point, the two groups were running parallel offices.
The power struggle has also seen the firm turn to a gangland manifested by gruesome murder of their officials in what is attributed to the leadership row pitting the company.
In 2016, John Waweru Wanjohi, then aged 42 years was shot dead at point blank range at Zimmerman estate in Nairobi where he had gone to drop one of his employees.
His wife Eunice Muthoni said that she believed her husband was killed due to the wrangles pitting the company’s leaders of the 5,000-member company.
Besides allegations of fraud, forgeries land irregularities through dispossession and double allocations, grabbing of land surrendered for public utilities like sewerage, schools and other social amenities, the Sh2.5billion compensation of a land belonging to the company where the government put up a World Bank funded sewerage line project has also been cited as one of the bone of contention.
In our subsequent three-part publication, we uncover for you the shocking revelations through an exclusive telephone interview with company’s chairman John Maina and court documents on alleged forgeries of document by officials to ascend to the helm of company’s leadership at Thika Land Registry and at the Registrar of Companies at Sheria House coupled by threat to life against members and daring dispossession of members’ land.