Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has been cleared in a
long-running land dispute.
This is after the Environment and Land Court in Kwale ruled
that responsibility lay solely with former Msambweni MP Omari Mbwana Zonga, who
was found to have unlawfully sold the same parcel of land to two different
buyers.
The case involved Southern Bay Limited v. Gideon Mbuvi
Kioko, popularly known as Mike Sonko, & Others (ELCC 166 of 2021),
Delivering judgment
Justice A.E. Dena ordered Zonga to refund Sh7,905,040 to Southern Bay
Limited, comprising Sh7.75 million purchase price and Sh155,040 stamp duty,
with interest from December 6, 2018, until payment in full, and to bear the
full legal costs of the suit.
The case revolved around the land parcel Kwale/Kinondo Ramisi
SSS/193.
The plaintiff, Southern Bay Limited, entered into a sale
agreement with Zonga in April 2014 for Sh7.75 million, paid the full amount,
and was issued with a title deed in May 2014.
However, evidence before the court confirmed that Zonga had
earlier entered into a separate sale agreement with Sonko in March 2013 for Sh9
million, executed a transfer in his favour, and had it registered on March 26,
2013.
Justice Dena found that by the time Southern Bay Limited
bought the land in 2014, Zonga “had no capacity both legally and morally” to
sell it, having already transferred it to Sonko the previous year.
In dismissing allegations of fraud against Sonko (the 1st
defendant) and the Kwale Land Registrar (the 2nd defendant), the judge held
that the plaintiff’s claim lay entirely against the 3rd defendant, Omari Zonga,
who failed to disclose the earlier transaction.
“Since the plaintiff’s transaction was undertaken after the
3rd defendant had already sold the property to someone else and executed the
transfer, he had no capacity both legally and morally to transfer the suit
property to the plaintiff when he knew very well he had not formally rescinded
the earlier arrangements,” Justice Dena stated.
The court further emphasized that allowing Zonga to retain
the money paid by the plaintiff would amount to unjust enrichment.
The judgment, delivered virtually on October 3, 2025, ends a
four-year battle that underscored the persistent problem of double land sales
at the Coast.
With the ruling, Sonko — whose official name is Gideon Kioko
Mbuvi, has been legally affirmed as the registered proprietor of the contested
property, while Southern Bay Limited’s remedy lies in recovering its money from
the former legislator.
