Ngilu joins row over city plot claimed by Chinese
A group of Chinese investors is now occupying prime property in the upmarket Lavington area that has been the subject of a long-drawn and unresolved court battle.
Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu has been caught up in the controversy after she moved to help the investors launch a mega project for the construction of a 47-storey apartment complex a day after a court issued orders directing that no activity should take place pending the determination of a suit currently before Lady Justice Pauline Nyamweya.
The property has been in the hands of the Vohra family who are prominent investors in the hotel industry under the Sarova Group.
The ceremony was staged a day after a judge had directed a status quo over the ownership of the property which the plaintiff claims has been inherited through generations.
An Environmental and Lands Division court was moved under a certificate of urgency to stop the “official grabbing” of the multi-million-shilling property, which lies on Ndemi Road along Ngong Road within Nairobi County.
While the hoteliers were steadfastly clinging firmly to their property, a senior political figure was trying to reach out to the lawyer of Samvo Limited to woo him to abandon the court battle over the two-and-a-half acre property for a “lifetime fortune”.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has also not been left out of the saga.
Three suspects who were allegedly involved in pulling down a house built on the land were prosecuted from a police station away from that jurisdiction.
The suspects were charged by Muthaiga police station instead of Kilimani police station under which the land lies.
This leaves unanswered questions as to why Muthaiga acted in an area it does not watch.
Samvo Limited, who claim to be the registered proprietor of the land in question, then obtained an order on May 9 from Lady Justice Nyamweya prohibiting Delta Haulage Services Limited from developing or interfering in any way with the disputed parcel.
Delta has claimed ownership of the land and has been involved in litigation with Samvo from 2007.