Two Kenyatta University lecturers have sued their senior colleague for allegedly duping them over Sh1million in a fake land deal.
They claim the lecturer sold to them “hot air” in pretense that he had plots for sale in Machakos county.
In an application filed at Kangundo Magistrate court, Wilson Thagana and Georgina Mulwa claim that Ezekiel Mugendi defrauded them Sh1.3million by falsely pretending that he would sell them plots in Kiambu county.
The two are being represented by lawyer Steve Nzaku.
Thagana told court he was the one who introduced Mulwa to Dr.Mugendi after he allegedly sold him a plot of land.
Mugendi is a senior lecturer and was a friend to Thagana.
He had shared with him that he had several plots for sale.
Thagana says that on 5th day of April 2018, Mugendi purported to be the proprietor of PLOT NO. DONYO SABUK/KOMAROCK BLOCK 1/74818 and entered into a sale agreement with him for the purchase of all the parcel of land.
The land was purchased for Sh680,000 which Thagana says he paid.
Through his lawyer Nzaku, he said he paid full amount by May 31, 2018 which was acknowlwdged by Mugendi.
“After clearing the contractual sum as per the sale agreement, i was in await of formal transfer and physical possession of the parcel only to learn that the contractual parcel did not belong to the Mugendi; infact it was under development by Otul Mohammed who claimed the said property belonged to her mother, a one Zuhura Adam”, the court documents read.
Thagana said he discovered when he visited the said Parcel and discovered Mohammed was constructing on the same.
It was then that he pleaded with him to stop the said construction until the stalemate was resolved but Mohammed insisted construction.
Further, It was alleged Zuhura had documents proving ownership of the said plot of Land; a plot that had been transferred to her way back in 2005 and that she had documents to confirm the same.
It was the account of Mohammed that his mother, Zuhura Adams had obtained the said land from Mbukoni Holdings Ltd, which was the original proprietor of the said plot, a plot Mugendi had earlier purported to own vide documents surrendered to Thagana.
“That efforts to have the stalemate cleared resultant to my Occupation of the purchased land and quiet possession of the same have since been futile, the same prompting me to report the incident to the police”, the lecturer argued.
He said he had made several attempts for a refund of his money for the purchased property from either of the Defendants or alternatively but to no success.
“Further to the above, I engaged the Kenyatta University Human Resource Manager in a bid to enforce the agreement but to no success as Mugendi denied liability for the said breach of contract further insisting that he had performed his end obligation as per the contract.
“I have therefore suffered irreparably through the 1st defendant’s actions of defrauding money from me pretending to be selling me property further to the current discovery that all the documents he had given me were forgeries.
It is my prayer that this Court intervenes and compel the Defendants to refund my money totaling to Sh680,000 further to interest as per the contract as pleaded in the Plaint”, he argues.
Mulwa also pleads for a refund of Sh690,000 plus interest.
The court heard Mugendi sold her a land that belonged to someone else and subsequently gave her another piece that was not vacant.
Search showed both the pieces of land allegedly belonged to two different people