Former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju.
The transfer of a property belonging to former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju may come to haunt a senior lands official who is fighting to keep his job.
Mr David Nyambasa Nyandoro’s appointment as the chief land registrar had been revoked by the Employment and Labour Relations court in May last year, and the court directed Lands CS Alice Wahome and PS Nixon Korir to replace him with Mr Peter Mburu Ng’ang’a.
However, Mr Nyandoro and the Attorney General moved to the appellate court and obtained an order in July last year, allowing him to continue serving, pending the determination of the appeal.
But as the matter was pending hearing, Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, who is also a respondent in the appeal filed by the official, has sought permission to bring in new evidence regarding the transfer of the property belonging to Mr Tuju.
According to Mr Omtatah, the new evidence touches on dereliction of statutory duty and blatant disobedience of court orders.
The Senator said the evidence touches on the integrity, legality, and propriety of Mr Nyandoro’s conduct as acting chief land registrar and his fitness for office.
He said he had not obtained the evidence at the time of filing the appeal.
“That unless the court grants the orders sought, there exists a real and imminent risk that the appeal will be determined without the benefit of crucial information touching on public interest, statutory compliance, and the integrity of the holder of a key office in land administration,” Mr Omtatah said.
He pointed out that there was a court order restraining the sale or transfer of Dari Ltd’s properties in Karen, pending the hearing and determination of the case.
The court order, he said, was extended on November 20, 2024, and February 6, 2025.
Mr Omtatah said the court order was served at the Ministry, but the advocate who presented the documents at Ardhi house was allegedly informed that the order was not ‘registrable’ as it did not contain explicit directions to the Chief Land Registrar.
He said it was clear and obvious that the Chief Land Registrar had a statutory duty to register the court order barring dealings with the parcel of land, once presented to him.
And being the only authority in the country empowered to register transfers, he said Mr Nyandoro was obligated to take notice of and ensure compliance with the court order by registering the title and keeping the deed file in safe custody. The transfer was allegedly made on February 18, 2025.
Mr Tuju moved to court last April to block the East African Development Bank and Garam Investment Auctioneers from selling his two properties in Karen, to recover a disputed loan.
The auctioneers had put up for sale the land where Entim Sidai Wellness Sanctuary stands and Tamarind Karen and Dari Business Park, both in Karen, to recover a debt of $35,057,622 (about Sh4.5 billion).
Later, the auctioneer indicated that one of the properties had been sold for Sh450 million.
In the application at the appellate court, Mr Omtatah said the property was transferred to Ultra Eureka Limited, in defiance of a court order.
“That despite being fully aware of the said orders, the appellant (Mr Nyandoro) knowingly, willfully and deliberately disobeyed them and on or about 18th February 2025, proceeded to register an unlawful transfer of the said property in favour of Ultra Eureka, in contempt of the orders,” he said.
Mr Omtatah added that as part of his contemptuous actions, he also caused a title deed of the said property (L.R. No. 1055/165) to be converted to Title No. Nairobi Block 47/1399 to be issued, indicating that Ultra Eureka Limited is the registered proprietor of the property for a term of 99 years as of September 1, 2010.
He said the conduct constitutes a breach of the Chief Land Registrar’s statutory duty under section 68 of the Land Registration Act to register court orders inhibiting dealings with land.
The Busia senator said Mr Nyandoro violated the law by disregarding a court order and his statutory obligations.
Mr Tuju has been battling with the regional lender over a loan he borrowed in 2015 with plans to use the money to build a 30-room home that he would then sell to retirees and use the proceeds to repay the loan.
He later accused EADB of failing to disburse the entire sum of Sh933 million and further failed to approve the additional Sh294 million, a move that frustrated the deal.
