Part of the famed Koinange family has been seeking court orders to have the Village Market and the adjacent Tribe Hotel brought down.

The family petitioned the High Court to order for the demolition or compensation at today’s market rate for a piece of land that is occupied by the two properties.

According to a report that appeared in a local business newspaper, the family argued that the seven-acre land occupied by the Village Market and the Tribe Hotel was fraudulently acquired.

The land is currently estimated to be worth Sh. 1.6 billion while the Village Market is estimated to be worth Sh. 15 billion. “In the alternative, full compensation to the plaintiff at market value or current valuation of the suit property,” the petition by the family says.

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The Village Market however disputed these allegations and asked the court to enjoin the Attorney General and the Chief Land Registrar in the matter. The property owners reckon that the Chief Land Registrar can verify that their titled deed is valid and was obtained legally.

This was the latest in a series of bitter court fights over property that has dogged the family of the late Kenyatta-era powerful minister Mbiyu Koinange.

This row sucked in the KCB Bank Group, with the children of Charles Karuga Koinange asking the court to declare a loan of Sh. 8.5 billion the bank advanced to the owners of Village Market as invalid. The owners of the complex, Greenhills Investment, had tapped the loan for the development of the property.

In the petition, the Koinanges said that the property had been listed for distribution to the beneficiaries. However, the process could be undertaken because of what they term as illegal transactions, including the charge of the property at KCB.

“In the interest of justice, it is necessary to grant the orders sought to forestall further illegal dealings or transactions on the subject property and to preserve the subject matter of this suit,” the family says in court documents.

The family added that it has never sold the property or transferred it to anyone since their late father acquired it.