Unmasking Equity Bank CEO’s James Mwangi, Anverali claim on Moi’s Muthaiga land
Faced with imminent arrest and possible prosecution over the controversial multi-billion three -acre property located in Nairobi’s Muthaiga area, Equity Bank Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi rushed to court to not only bar his arrest by police alongside his wife Jane Wangui Mundia but also to block a two-and-a-half years long probe by the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) into the authenticity of his ownership documents.
Mwangi obtained the temporary orders issued by High Court Judge Hedwig Ong’undi on July 21, 2022 in the judge chambers.
“It is hereby ordered that temporary orders in terms of prayer No.2 of the notice of motion dated July 19, 2022 is hereby granted pending mention on July 28, 2022 before ELC to which this matter is now transferred, conservatory order is issued staying or suspending investigations into, any arrest and prosecution by the respondents in relation to parcel of land namely, L.R No.214/832 (formerly L.R Nos.214/20/1/2 and 214/20/1/1.” The order reads in part.
In the suit petition No E375 of 2022 filed before the Constitutional and the Human Rights Division of the High Court by Equity CEO as the first petitioner and his wife Wangui as the second petitioner, both the DCI George Kinoti and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji have been cited as the first and second respondents respectively.
Documents obtained by The Informer show that, through an affidavit drawn and filed by Rapando & Odunga Advocates, the Equity CEO says he bought the parcels of land from the late former president Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi on December 19, 2012 through his alleged advocate Nchogu, Omwanza & Nyasimi Advocates at a cost of Sh320.6million.
Mwangi says he made payments in three tranches, including a deposit of Sh32 million in February 2013 and the balance of Sh288.5 million in March 2013 to ABC Bank. He also made a Sh12.8 million stamp duty payment.
The Equity CEO claims he settled the payment through RTGs and the two parcels were transferred and jointly registered in his name and his wife on March 1, 2013.
If the Chief Executive Officer from the top serving bank had been arrested, this would have put to the test Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) rules that guide the fitness of directors and senior managers.
According to documents filed in court by the petitioners, they claim the conveyancing documents between them and Moi were prepared by Kiarie Kariuki & Associates whereby the passport photo sizes images of the late president and those of the couple are contained detailing their respective names, Identity Card numbers, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) PIN numbers and their signatures.
However, besides the couple laying claim on the land, Mount Pleasant Limited director Anverali Amershi Karmali is also claiming ownership of the same multi-billion property.
Equity Bank CEO accuses Kinoti of bias for what he termed as secretly reopening investigations into the ownership of prime land arguing the police had cleared him in January 2020 after confirming that his ownership documents were genuine and that he was free to develop the property ‘without interference from any quarter’.
However, this time around, the couple did not present themselves for record statement taking.
Instead, Mwangi claims the investigators have failed to record statements on how he purchased the property from the late President Moi on December 19, 2012.
On the other hand, court documents before land court show that Karmali claims he bought the three-acre parcel from former Finance minister Arthur Magugu and his wife, Margaret Wairimu, at Sh130 million on July 21, 2006.
“It is an abuse of power, irrational and unreasonable for the 1st respondent (DCI) to purport to conduct investigations on a matter whose investigations were already concluded and fail to give notice to the petitioners,” Mwangi says through documents filed before court.
In 2020, Karmali moved to court seeking to evict the CEO from the land, terming him a trespasser.
Karmali says his company, Mount Pleasant Limited purchased the land from Magugu, who had allegedly acquired the property from Moi.
The trader alleges that the records at the land registry were altered, making it difficult to trace successive owners of the contested parcel.
But Mwangi says Magugu’s ownership documents are not genuine because the land initially belonged to Moi.
“That I visited the late President Moi to officially albeit informally confirm that the sale of the suit property had proceeded and concluded smoothly… We had a very pleasant evening with the [former] President discussing the salient aspects of the suit properties and our plans to develop the same,” Mwangi says in court documents.
“Significantly, our purchase of the subject property was preceded by assiduous due diligence which established that indeed … the late President Moi was the duly registered proprietor of the said property after which the 2nd defendant and I applied for amalgamation of the two parcels of land, which was conducted with due regard to the due process of law.”
The Equity Bank CEO said he occupied the land peacefully until April 2019 when unknown persons tried to forcibly enter and evict him.
He reported the matter at Muthaiga Police Station and the police commenced a probe into acts of trespass.
