Family seeking SGR compensation millions slapped with criminal charges

A Mombasa family fighting for a share of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) compensation money has suffered a blow after the State slapped them with criminal charges.

Joseph Nyingi and Monica Wambui are now being accused of conspiring to defraud a company they have been battling in court over property worth Sh595 million.

A court document shows that the two, who are administrators of the estate of the late James Kamau Thiong’o, conspired to defraud African Gas and Oil Company Ltd (AGOL) of its property by laying claim to 48 acres of its land.

The two are charged that on or before September 2, 1992 they conspired to defraud the company of part of the land registered as MN/VI/4838.

They are also accused of perjury, with prosecutors saying they knowingly provided false information indicating that they had a valid title deed to land No. MN/VI/755.

The two allegedly gave their testimony in judicial proceedings in the Environment and Land Court case number 161/2013. In the case, the two fought with Golden Sparrow Trading Company Ltd and the Registrar of Lands over ownership of the property.

Prosecutors also say they swore a false affidavit to the effect that they were genuine owners of land No. MN/VI/755.

The suspects were arraigned before Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno. They denied the charges and were released on a Sh2 million bond each with one surety of the same amount.

Their lawyer Onyango Wameyo told the court that the contents of the charge sheet are matters still pending in the Court of Appeal, where the family has challenged the dismissal of their case.

“Police are being used to intimidate and frustrate my clients,” he said.

He claimed the suspects were ambushed when they were summoned to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters in Nairobi to record statements only to be arrested and returned to Mombasa to plead to the charges.

Mr Wameyo maintained that the suspects are victims and complainants and the State should not press charges against them when their case was still pending in the appellate court.

Their arrest and arraignment came barely a month after Justice Charles Yano of the Environment and Land Court in Mombasa ruled that land No. MN/VI/755 belongs to the state.

In a ruling on June 16, the judge struck out the case pitting the family against three companies, on the grounds that the land had been acquired by the government in 1976.

The judge ruled that documentary evidence tabled in court, including proof of compensation, revealed that the compulsory acquisition process for the property was completed in 1977, and the family’s title extinguished.

“I’m satisfied that the government of Kenya is the owner of the suit parcel of land and has been so since 1977. It is, therefore, my finding that the plaintiff’s suit is otherwise an abuse of the court process,” the judge said.

The ruling was a relief to the three companies - Golden Sparrow Trading Company Ltd, Mjad Investment Ltd and AGOL - which had been sued for trespassing and encroachment.

Ms Wambui and Zacharia Njenga sued the three companies and the Registrar of Titles in 2013, seeking vacant possession of the property.

They sought orders to enforce their rights to quiet possession of the land, and a permanent injunction against the three companies, which they alleged had alienated their property.

But the case was struck out after the court was informed that the land that the family claimed to own had been acquired by the government in 1977.

Documents tabled in court by the Registrar of Titles indicate that the compulsory acquisition process started in 1976 and was completed a year later after Mr Thiong’o (now deceased) was paid a total of Sh99,553.70 as compensation for the land.

Mr Thiong’o was among landowners who benefited from a Sh7.2 million compensation when their plots in the Miritini Industrial and Housing area was compulsorily acquired in 1976, the documents show.

But the family had vehemently denied the alleged acquisition and compensation claims, arguing that the process was not completed and sought a full hearing of their matter.

They argued that in the land registrar’s record, Mr Thiong’o was still the registered owner of the land, and that the title had not been cancelled or extinguished.

The family argued that Kenya Gazette notice No. 737 of March 12, 1976 was a declaration of the intention to acquire the land and the process could not have been concluded on the same date.

“Our case is primarily not about the alleged acquisition but of encroachment. The cause of action leading to the filing of this case are acts of trespass, annex, cut-off, alienation, dispossession and unlawful taking of possession of part of the deceased’s property,” Mr Wameyo said.

The ruling dealt a blow to the family, who had hoped to get Sh519 million that they claimed was paid to AGOL for the property.

Ms Wambui and Mr Njenga are in court over the Sh519 million, whose payment to the company they have contested over claims that the money should have been paid to them.

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