A recent report presented to the Nairobi City County Assembly early on in December indicated that the title deed for Pangani Estate, which had been earmarked as a location for Nairobi’s affordable housing projects, has gone missing.
The untraceable document pertains a 5.2-acre parcel of land. This comes months after a similar controversy about the title deed belonging to Jevanjee Estate land, had reportedly, also gone missing.
County Executive Officials have been unable to account for the Pangani Estate title deed status or confirm its ownership.
“Regarding the status of ownership of the title deed for the estate and in whose name it is registered, attach proof; it was reported that the title deed for the parcel of land where the Pangani estate sits remains unknown, with the county executive unable to explain the custody of the title deed,” the report read in part.
The county assembly, in April 2023, granted Tecnofin Kenya Limited permission to secure a loan from KCB by using the title deed of the Pangani project as collateral to complete the development.
Despite receiving approval to secure the loan, the private developer has reportedly declined to provide project details to county representatives or honour assembly summons.
The decision to allow the use of the title deed as collateral had been supported by the Nairobi county administration. However, the process was stopped by the Environment and Lands Court in Milimani after various pressure groups filed petitions.
The Pangani Housing project was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta on June 30th, 2020 with the vision being delivery of affordable housing.
However, the reported disappearance of the title deed has cast doubts on the projects management and accountability, especially housing initiatives in Nairobi.
In the past, a similar controversy occurred when Jabavu Limited, the private developer behind the Jeevanjee Estate housing project allegedly used the plot’s title deed to secure a Sh. 1.9 billion loans from National Bank.
Only Sh. 16bn used on houses out of Sh. 54bn affordable housing taxes
The firm denied these claims, adding that the project had not stalled but progress was currently at 50% complete. It asserted that occupancy for the units could begin in September 2026 with the completion date set at September 2025.
“Our attention has been drawn to media reports suggesting that one of our projects, the Jeevanjee Housing Estate in Ngara, Nairobi has stalled and that we used a title deed belonging to the county government to secure funding for the project,” the firm stated.
“We wish to clarify to the public that construction of the project is ongoing, despite initial delays caused by the acquisition of the land, the Covid-19 pandemic and the sharp increase in steel prices following the Ukraine war.”
