Businesswoman Agnes Kagure has lost a court battle over a property worth an estimated Sh600 million that was part of a British national’s Will.
Kagure and Prover Haunt Limited had moved to court claiming the ownership of the property that was formerly owned by the late British national Roger Bryan Robson.
In the matter, Thomas Mutaha who was the director of Prover Haunt had alleged that Robson had been a family friend and had transferred the property to him as a gift, without any sale agreement.
On her part, Kagure had claimed that she lawfully bought a parcel in Karen from Robson in 2011. She had presented Sergeant Felix Kalasya as a witness. Kalasya had then testified that Mutaha had been charged in 2016 in connection with the same property.
However, Chief Inspector Susan Wanjiru told the court that the signatures on the will appeared to be from different individuals.
In yet another twist, another witness, Cyrus Ngatia, who identified himself as the Deputy Solicitor General and a former Registrar of Companies, disputed the signature on the company’s registration documents and denied knowing an individual named Lagat.
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Robson died on August 8, 2012. In his Will dated March 24, 1997, he had appointed lawyer Guy Spencer and Sean Battye as the executors of his Will. Battye later stepped down after leaving the country.
In the ruling, the court determined that there was no evidence that Robson had been coerced or mentally unfit when he wrote the will outlining the distribution of his estate.
“I have perused the original Will on record and in my view, there is nothing to fault. It was executed by the deceased and as a matter of fact, he signed all the pages. The same was witnessed by two persons and was drafted by an advocate,” Justice Hillary Chemitei ruled.
“There is no evidence to suggest that the deceased was under any pressure or coercion. It appears he voluntarily visited his lawyer and expressed his intentions clearly.”
