Ally says DP Ruto owns Ruai land but won’t contest eviction

Deputy President William Ruto will not be challenging the repossession of the Ruai sewerage land, a close ally and business partner says.

Patrick Osero (pictured), who co-owns Weston Hotel with Dr Ruto, termed the Wednesday eviction of Renton Company from the contested property as malicious.

“He will not contest the repossession. He (DP) has a legitimate title to the property in his house. How can anyone lay claim to it,” Osero posed.

Osero claims he does not own any share of the property but was well aware of Ruto’s ownership of the 1600-acre property through Renton Company where a private municipality was intended.  

Saying he was an authority on any property owned by the DP, Osero said the land has not been collateralised to any lender as had been widely speculated.

Other documents, however, indicate that the firm may have at least sought to charge the property to Kenya Commercial Bank, currently trading as KCB, even though we could not immediately confirm whether funds were ever released.

But as it would emerge, Renton Company does not exist at the registry of companies even though there are several variants of the name. And Ruto is yet to speak out on the alleged grab, which is thought to have taken place in the mid-1990s.

Emmanuel Talam, the Director of Communication in the Deputy President’s office, had on Wednesday denied Ruto's link to the property.

“As far as I know, the DP does not own that land. You can find that out from the registry and you know I do not work there,” Mr Talam told The Standard on Wednesday when the demolition was ongoing.

2010 petition

Court documents, in a petition filed in 2010 by Renton Company against Nairobi City Council and former senior officials Philip Kisia and Tom Odongo, indicate that the firm had sought to charge the property to KCB and had also sought to be connected to the electricity grid. However, Mr Odongo – then the director of Land and Planning – cautioned KCB against extending the facility, saying the land was indeed public and intended for the expansion of the sewerage treatment plant.

Mr Kisia, who served as the town clerk for Nairobi City Council for three years until 2012, questioned the legitimacy of the allocation.

“If there is anything to show that the allocation followed due process then the alleged owners should seek compensation,” he said.

Kisia added that the city council did not have the powers to allocate land meant for public use, in this case intended for the expansion of the sewerage treatment plant, to private entities.

NCC was formally granted the entire parcel of land registered as LR 12979/1 in 1996 where the sewerage works was already. It was part of LR 12979 which is 5,336.2 hectares (13,186 acres), according to the area survey maps.

Four portions were carved out of the swathe of land on which the city councillors intended to settle landless dwellers.

Renton and another firm associated with former MP Cyrus Jirongo were allocated two of the parcels measuring 1,600 and 1,000 acres respectively.

Court records indicate that Renton claims to have paid Sh18.2 million to NCC, but the claim was not backed up by any documents.

Mr Jirongo was able to charge the property to Kenya Post Bank Credit, which has since collapsed, in 1994 for Sh1 billion, a fact confirmed yesterday by the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Mohamud Ahmed, the chief executive of KIDC, said the corporation was still holding on to the title deed, which he described as having been “properly charged”.

“…The title for the piece is with us duly charged,” Ahmed said.

He could not immediately confirm how much Jirongo’s loan has now swollen but it has previously been reported to have crossed Sh20 billion.

It is unclear whether Jirongo’s portion of the land would also be repossessed considering the similarity in circumstances of allocation. Should it end in the same way, the KDIC would be left holding onto worthless papers.

Most details relating to the Renton land are captured in a petition filed by the late Jacob Juma challenging the ownership of the land.

Juma had moved to court jointly with ordinary squatters who had moved on to the 1,600-acre land.

In his petition, he termed the allocation as fraudulent and cited the record 55 minutes it took the formal grant of the land to NCC and the subsequent transfer to Renton.

“Prior to the transfer and registration of the suit land in favour of Renton Company Limited on April 12, 1996, at 10.25 am, the land had been acquired by the government and reserved for construction of a sewer plant and expansion of sanitary facilities in the city.

Suit land

“The suit land having been reserved for public purposes under the provision of the Constitution and Government Land Act, it was not available for alienation...the grant in respect of the suit land was registered in favour of the City Council of Nairobi at 9.30 am April 12, 1996, and then hurriedly transferred to the first respondent on the same day at 10.25 am,” read Juma’s petition.

Besides the petition, a court had annulled the supposed allocation of the parcel to Renton Company.

In 2010, GG Gachihi, the registrar of titles, cancelled the allocation of the land to private developers through a gazette notice which effectively meant that even the squatters would not have a claim on the land.

Gachihi specifically pointed out LR 12979/3 granted to Jirongo and LR 12979/4 allocated to Renton as illegal and unconstitutional.

“Under the circumstances and in view of the public need and interest, the government revokes all the said titles,” wrote the registrar.