Man at pains to explain how he bought Sh350m ADC land at age 21

A man claiming ownership of a Sh350 million land in Ngata had difficulty explaining to the court how he acquired it from the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC).

Omar Mohamed Omar told the Environment and Land Court in Nakuru that he acquired the 20.24-hectare land a year after completing his secondary school education.

Testifying in a case in which Omar and Patrick Maina Wakanda have sued Joshua Kulei, Chief Land Registrar, Attorney General and Sian Enterprises Ltd, he claimed ADC allotted them the land following an application and upon compliance with the conditions contained in the letter of offer.

He claimed that on October 21, 2023, Kulei’s agents started placing beacons and erecting a temporary fence at the land.

He wants the court to issue a permanent injunction restraining Kulei, the Chief Land Registrar and Sian Enterprises from interfering with the land.

During cross-examination, Omar told the court that he first applied for land on October 8, 1995, together with his age mate Wakanda, at the age of about 21. He was issued with the title deed in 1996.

Asked why he came to Nakuru and applied for land, he said he had a business interest. He added that he owns vast land in Mombasa and Malindi, among other areas.

Omar said he used to work during holidays and that his father was a businessman.

He paid Sh46,826.85 after allotment to ADC through Lands Limited, which he described as a subsidiary of ADC. He couldn’t recall the name of the chief accountant he made the payment to.

Senior counsel Tom Ojienda, representing Kulei, asked Omar whether he had met the management of ADC.

Different signatures

Omar admitted he met Jane Otieno, an ADC employee, on October 8, 1995, in Nairobi officer but couldn’t tell her position. He suspected she was holding brief for the managing director.

He also failed to give the name of the Lands Control Board at the time and the membership of the board. He said he did not appear before the board.

Ojienda noted that signatures appearing in various documents were different, but Omar disputed this.

Kulei and Sian Enterprises have disputed Omar and Wakanda. Sian claimed it acquired the property from the late Cabinet member Joseph Nkaiserry, who acquired it from ADC in 1991.

They claim that in March 1998, they entered into an agreement with Nkaiserry for consideration of Sh5.5 million.

Sian noted that before the registration of the transfer, it realised that Nkaiserry had before 1996 used it as security to obtain a Sh500,000 loan from Postbank Credit Ltd.

A letter from Postbank dated March 11, 1996, confirmed that Nkaiserry had cleared the loan.

The two said it was upon verification of all documents that they forwarded a transfer dated August 20, 1999, to the Lands Registry.

Kulei said Omar and Wakanda cannot lay claim to a private property, invade it then purport to cry foul when the registered proprietor takes steps to protect it.

The hearing continues today.