High Court ruling exposes Agnes Kagure’s long list of alleged land grabs
Robson had no children but left his assets to a nephew and charitable organisations and never mentioned Kagure or any other beneficiary in his will
A recent High Court ruling has exposed Nairobi-based insurance broker cum politician Agnes Kagure’s involvement in alleged land grab scandals.
In an earlier exposè, The Informer Media Group revealed how Kagure’s name features prominently in controversial land acquisitions involving deceased persons, raising questions about her role in fraudulent land deals.
In the latest matter, High Court Judge Hilary Chemitei dismissed a case in which she lay a claim on a five-acre parcel of land, reference number 209/289/1/3, in Karen valued at Sh600 million, which was owned by Roger Bryan Robson, a deceased British national.
In her application seeking revocation of earlier court orders, Kagure had claimed to have bought the prime land from Robson but there was no evidence presented before the court to prove the claim and the Judge proceeded to dismiss her plea in favour of the family of the British national.
“In my view whether the deceased was not in a position to sign or not is for the other courts with necessary jurisdiction as outlined above to decide. For now, this court is satisfied that the will meets
all the requirements and parameters of a valid Will,” the judge ruled.
He added: “Neither do I find any evidence to suggest any pressure or coercion applied against the deceased when he made the Will. It appears that he simply walked into his counsels’ chambers and gave direction on his intention to make a Will. The parties including the Respondent went ahead to work on it and the relevant parties witnessed.”
Kagure has previously been linked to a dispute over a one-acre Makadara. In a case filed in 2018, Ruth Wambui Kimani contested her claim to the land, stating in her affidavit that it was owned by her late husband Kimani Mungai who had bought it in 1997.
In a separate case, Joel Munyoki Munene sued Kagure at the Environment and Land Court (ELC) case file No. 65 of 2017, accusing her of attempting to grab his land.
In the latest suit, Kagure sued Robson’s lawyer and executor of his Will, Guy Spencer Elms, accusing him of forging signatures on the Will of the deceased. Robson had left Spencer in charge of execution and management of his Will.
However, Spencer told the court that it was Kagure who indeed forged the deceased’s signature to lay claim on the land and hired goons who, in the company of policemen, chased away workers and began constructing a perimeter wall.
Kagure had claimed she bought the property for Sh100 million from Robson in November 2011, a year before his death.
After a long interlude of various applications, the parties were able to proceed by way of viva voce evidence where several witnesses were called from both sides.
The parties adopted their rival affidavits and or witness statements during the hearing. Thereafter the court directed the parties to file written submissions which they complied.
While testifying via a virtual link from the UK, Robson’s brother Michael Fairfax Robson told the court that the deceased did not sell his property to anyone before his death in 2012 and that the claims by Kagure were falsified.
“I have been made aware that the said Agnes Kagure is laying claim to my brother’s property at Ushirika Road in Karen, but I can confirm that my brother never disposed the property or sold it to anyone,” said Michael.
In his judgement, Justice Chemitei he was bound to determine whether, in obtaining the grant, the Executor forged signatures on the Will and the power of attorney, among other factors.
“I have looked at the entire submissions and the summary of the above grafted issues by the parties and in my view and for the reasons which I shall state in the body of this decision, there is only one major fundamental issue to determine as of priority, namely, whether the impugned Will is valid or not,” he stated.
“Taking totality therefore of my above findings, I think I have stated much to demonstrate that the objection proceedings dated 15th April 2015 and 16th March 2017 were not proved beyond the balance of probabilities and the same are hereby dismissed with costs to the Respondent,” Justice Chemitei
Regarding issues raised by the parties in the proceedings, the judge directed that they be raised in the two other courts; namely the Environment and Land Court as well as the Commercial Division of the High Court.
“The parties are directed to subject themselves to the land court where they will be able to challenge the issues surrounding the sale and transfer of the said parcels of land and more particularly defend their respective
positions,” Justice Chemitei said.
Robson had no children but left his assets to a nephew and charitable organisations. He never mentioned Kagure or any other beneficiary in his will.
Apart from Kagure, the land was also being claimed by Plovers Haunt Limited.
Among those who testified in support of Kagure was a Directorate of Criminal Investigations Department (DCI) officer Sergeant Felix Kalasya, who is based at Mazingira House. He told the court that he was involved in criminal case Number 60 of 2016 at the Chief Magistrate’s court where Thomas Mutaha was the suspect.
He said Mutaha came with the original documents but Elms failed on his part, adding that the property was
registered under Plovers’ name.
Another witness, Chief Inspector of Police Susan Wanjiru Wambugu, an officer from the forensic department, produced some exhibits which she had been tasked to authenticate the signatures. These included the deceased Will and a power of attorney in favour of Elms.
She claimed her ultimate conclusion was that the signatures in all the sets of documents were made by different authors.
