• In the dispute, Marriot claims ownership of the land and argues that it was bought in 2012 from Trendsetters Investments Ltd.
• Kihara has made an application for Justice Lucy Gacheru, who is presiding over the case, to recuse herself, citing bias.
Image: FILE
The family of former spymaster James Kanyotu and Goldenberg architect Kamlesh Pattni are fighting over ownership of 500 acres in Thika town estimated to be worth Sh10 billion.
In his application filed at Thika Environment and Land Court, Willy Kihara, one of Kanyotu’s sons, reveals that Marriot Africa International Ltd and Trendsetters Investments Ltd are one and the same entity, owned and controlled by Pattni.
Kihara says that he refused to take an offer amounting to Sh700 million from Patti so as not to continue pursuing the disputed land.
According to Kihara, copies of CR12 from the Registrar of Companies showed that the two companies share the same physical and postal address, which he says belong to Pattni.
In the dispute, Marriot claims ownership of the land and argues that it was bought in 2012 from Trendsetters Investments Ltd.
Trendsetters says it purchased the land from Kangaita Coffee Estate Ltd for Sh700 million in 2011. The company has tabled documents showing that Mary Wanjiku Kanyotu and John Kariuki Kanyotu, who are directors of Kangaita, sold the land to Trendsetters.
But Kihara has disputed the sale, saying that the land, measuring approximately 205 hectares (about 506 acres) is subject to a succession case, which is pending before the High Court.
Marriot moved to court last year seeking to block the Kanyotus from reclaiming the land. It named Margaret Nyakinyua Murigu, Mary Wanjiku Kanyotu, Kihara and Kangaita Coffee Estate as respondents in the case.
Part of Kanyotu’s family that has disputed the sale says Kangaita has its bank accounts into which proceeds from the sale of any property belonging to the estate ought to be deposited.
But in the case of the land in Thika, no money was deposited into any of the accounts for distribution to the beneficiaries or settlement of estate debts.
In the affidavit filed in court, Kihara further reveals that last December, Pattni approached him through a proxy for an out-of-court settlement of the dispute. He says that the proxy said the tycoon was willing to return 150 acres and pay some amount as part of the deal.
“That sometime in December 2019 while this matter was still pending, one (name withheld) who told me he had been sent by Kamlesh Pattni approached me with an offer for an out-of-court settlement,” he says.
Kihara has also made an application for Justice Lucy Gacheru, who is presiding over the case, to recuse herself, citing bias. He says even after the judge issued orders stopping the construction, the same has been going on and the judge has done nothing despite a site visit.
Edited by A.N