Francis Mburu Property: Nairobi billionaire Francis Mburu has lost a property worth Sh. 10 billion. The loss follows a court ruling that was delivered on April 22, this year. The contested property is situated at Jamhuri Estate along Ngong Road in Nairobi. The 60-acre parcel of land was valued eight years ago at Sh. 6 billion by Camp Valuers, at Sh. 100 million per acre. At a rate of Sh. 120 million per acre, the land is now valued at an estimated Sh. 7.2 billion.
Mr. Mburu lost the property in a court battle against the Kenya Posts and Telecommunication Corporation (KPTC) and Aftraco Limited. Aftraco Limited is a company that is linked to Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.
The court ruling stated that an arbitrator who was identified as Zehrabum Janmohamed was at fault for awarding the disputed parcel to Exclusive Estates Limited (EEL) which is owned by Mburu.
In a decision dated September 6, 2019, Ms Janmohamed declared that the defunct KPTC excised part of its land and transferred it to Postel Housing Cooperative Society Ltd on January 19, 1993, for construction of houses for its workers. Postel Housing Cooperative Society Ltd then entered into an agreement with Mburu’s EEL on January 28, 1993, which the arbitrator said is legitimate alongside subsequent agreements.
The housing society then later resolved to enter into a deal to build houses on the land with Mburu.
However, Aftraco argued that it had paid KPTC Sh. 152 million as a deposit for the land which was to be sold at Sh 1.52 billion in 2011. The court had heard that the arbitrator had however declared the sale between Aftraco and KPTC null and void.
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“There is no doubt that the arbitrator demonstrated bias against Telkom by applying different standards of interpretation of the two agreements. The introduction of the requirement for strict proof in relation to Telkom as contrasted with her eagerness to make assumptions in favour of Exclusive and Postel amounted to treating the parties before her differently,” the court ruled.
