James Mwangi, the CEO of Equity Bank told a court yesterday that he wanted to turn a contested piece of land, which is at the center of a vicious legal battle, into a city within a city.
“Having gotten the title, we took possession of the land fenced with concrete poles, but it was bushy. We were not buying the land for agricultural purposes.
This was the prime property we intended to develop into a city within a city,” he testified.
While giving his evidence in chief in the case where he has claimed ownership of the 20-acre piece of land in Muthaiga, which he claims he bought from the late Moi.
The bank executive denied taking out a loan from Equity Bank to finance the payment of the land in question.
“In 2016, I had no board or management position. I do not know about the loan. I did not borrow money from Equity Bank to buy this property. I did not submit any documentation to any bank official regarding this transaction; there is no way that the directors would have known that the property belonged to me. The property is not listed as a security; it was not providing any revenue at repayment, he testified.
Mwangi also urged the court to find that he took part in an “honest transaction” in the case where he sued the former president, the Attorney General, and others using his company, Muthaiga Luxury Homes Ltd.
“We are asking the court to find that the title we hold is from an honest transaction. I would ask the court to find that I am holding a genuine title, that I exercised care in my transactions, and that I have given adequate evidence, he submitted.
He also said that in early 2013, he paid a visit to the former president in his house at Moi Karbanet Gardens to thank him for selling the land to him.
“My visit was to say thank you to an elder. The visit was for at least 1 and a half hours.
I presented a gift to him, which made him very excited. I gave him a golden pen and a bottle of ink.
The Equity Group CEO filed the suit in 2016. Mwangi says that he bought the 20-acre piece of land from Moi in February 2012 for Sh300 million after confirming that the former President legitimately owned it.
In the suit, he has listed USIU-A, Moi, Mr Kiongera’s Maestro Connections Health Systems Limited, the Chief Lands Registrar, the Director of Survey, and Attorney-General Githu Muigai as the respondents
Court papers show that Moi was represented in the transaction by businessman Andrew Sunkuli. Mwangi says he bought the property through his company, Muthaiga Luxury Homes Ltd., and has attached the sale agreement and transfer documents with Moi’s signature as evidence in the suit.
