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An investment company has lost a multimillion-shilling property fight in Kilifi County after a judge dismissed its claim, saying the firm failed to show how government officials colluded to deprive it of the land.
Solian Investments Ltd lost the 9.8-acre parcel in Mtondia in Kilifi after Justice Otieno Olola said the company failed to show that KSC International Ltd acquired the title to the land unlawfully.
Evidence presented to the court showed that KSC International, a construction firm under receivership, charged the property to the Bank of Baroda for a loan of Sh120 million.
“The upshot is that Plaintiff has failed to prove that the first Defendant’s (KSC International Ltd) title was acquired unlawfully,” the judge said.
The investment company moved to the Environment and Land Court saying it was allocated the parcel in 1992 but discovered over a decade later that KSC International was holding another title to the land.
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The court heard that the creation of the title was fraudulent and the construction firm must have colluded with land officials to cause the registration of a new title deed.
The investment firm said it discovered the move in September 2015, when a wall was constructed by KSC International.
KSC International on its part said it purchased the land from Magomeni Properties Ltd whose owners were residents of the area in 2001.
The court heard that Solina’s leasehold interest ceased to exist after the firm failed to develop the property within the period it was given by the government.
The judge said while the grant produced by Solian Investment required the firm to pay Sh150,000, there was no evidence of such payment.
Justice Olola said there was also a special condition attached to the Grant, which required the firm to submit to the relevant Local Authority building plans within six months and to erect an approved building within 24 months on the property.
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