Court stops construction of Islamic centre funded by Turkish embassy

 A Lands Court in Malindi has temporarily stopped the construction of an ultra-modern Islamic training institution in Kilifi following claims that it is being built on a grabbed parcel of land.

Justice Millicent Akinyi Odeny said Holistic Educational Trust should not dispose of, damage or in any way deal with the land situated in Kilifi.

The development of the project was funded by the Turkish Embassy in Kenya at a cost of Sh4.2 million.

The Judge granted the order following a suit filed by one Daula Mohammed Omar, who is trading as Nairobi Bahati Njema Investment.

She told the court that she is the lawful owner having purchased the property in 2014 from one Salim Abdalla Hemed for Sh1.5 million.

She appointed one Khalid Mohamed Ali, a property broker introduced to her by her ex-husband in a bid to assist in buying and investing in land in the coastal region.

Daula told the Judge that Khalid was acting as her agent.

He was receiving all the conveyance completion documents from the vendor's advocate in order to enable him to facilitate the transfer of the suit property to Daula.

But Daula in her court documents states Khalid betrayed her.

She claims he forged and fraudulently uttered the signature of the vendor of the suit property and thereafter illegally transferred the title to his name.

He would later sell the property to one Khalfan Mohamed who in turn sold it to the trust.

“When I learnt that Khalid had illegally alienated the suit property, I reported the matter to the police and sought to place a caution over the property,” she said.

But she was advised by the lands registrar that the registration of the caution could not be actuated as it had been overtaken by events since the property had been transferred to a third party. 

The registrar advised her to seek court intervention in the circumstances.

Way after, DCI Coast region placed a caveat on the suit property following investigations regarding the fraudulent transfer of the property by Khalid.

It barred any subsequent dealings in the suit property pending the conclusion of the investigation into the matter.

But the Land Registrar in Kilifi says she illegally lifted the caution, causing the property to be transferred to the trust.

“The registrar knew or ought to have known that the ownership of the property was in dispute and thus it was improper to sanction its transfer,” she said.

Khalid has since been charged before a Mombasa court with forgery and uttering false documents that culminated in the transfer of the suit property from the lawful owner.

The Judge directed the parties to file responses within 14 days.

The matter will be mentioned on September 26, this year.