Trader ordered to refund Sh17m in botched land deal
Rift Valley
By
Yvonne Chepkwony
| Jul 22, 2025
A businessman has been ordered to pay a doctor more than Sh17 million as a refund for a land purchase deal in Nakuru’s posh Milimani Estate.
Justice Millicent Odeny ordered Boniface Munyinyi to refund Sh17,440,911 plus interest to Amos Otara within 90 days after it emerged that the property was government land and was not available for allocation.
Dr Otara said that in 2013 he sought to purchase a property in the Milimani area in Nakuru Municipality and approached Munyinyi, who had a property he was disposing of.
Otara said that upon viewing the property they agreed on a purchase price of Sh16.1 million and that the property had been charged to a bank for Sh6.5 million at the time.
The doctor said he engaged the firm of Amingá Opiyo and Masese to help him with the transaction, which confirmed that the title deed was with a bank, and they agreed he would pay a deposit to Munyinyi upon execution of the agreement, which he did.
READ MORE
KRA's Sh47.3b tax shortfall hits Ruto's economic agenda amid fiscal strain
How Trump's new policies are pushing Kenya towards China
Why Mo Ibrahim is against Ruto's push for African credit rating agency
Firms to wait longer for payment as pending bills verification drags on
Auditor-General flags Kenya Railways for SGR loan default
KeNHA wins Sh670m tax row against KRA
Retail investors win big as Nairobi bourse drops 100 minimum shares
New nitrogen-preserved iced tea bets on consumers seeking less sugar
Why fuel pumps are now debt collection points
How latest sharp rise in fuel pump prices exposes gaps in energy sector management
Otara said he cleared the outstanding loan at the bank and subsequently took possession of the property.
The property, he said, was registered in his name in 2015 after he cleared with the bank, and he had been in peaceful occupation of the parcel until 2020, when some people were seen taking photographs of it.
On March 18, 2022, a group of people came and forcibly entered the property on the pretext that it was government land.
He said he later established that the team was sent by the Ministry of Devolution, the Ministry of Lands, the County Government of Nakuru and the District Land Registrar, Nakuru. Following the incident, he filed a case.
Registered owner
He told the court that he purchased the property from Munyinyi, whom he said was the registered owner.
Munyinyi stated that he was not the first registered owner of the suit property, as he had bought it from Gilbert Kitur, with whom he entered into a sale agreement.
Christopher Auma, a veterinary doctor who testified on behalf of the County Government of Nakuru, said the property had a government house and that, before devolution in 2013, the property belonged to the Regional Veterinary Investigations Laboratories, Nakuru.
The court, in determining the case, noted that there was no evidence to show how the suit property was allocated to Munyinyi or to the person who purportedly sold it to him.
The court found that the evidence on record, including the documents produced, showed that Munyinyi did not have good title to pass to Otara, as the property was public land that was not available for allocation.
“The property had a government house reserved for use by senior veterinary officers as per the quarterly reports to the Permanent Secretary and ministry building register,” ruled the court.
The court noted that the acquisition of the property by Otara was an unfortunate case in which the remedy lies with Munyinyi, who sold him land that belonged to the government. The court further ordered that the land revert to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Land Registrar, Nakuru County, was also directed to cancel Otara’s name as the registered owner of the suit property.
“The plaintiff (Otara) has sought an alternative prayer that the first defendant (Munyinyi) refunds the full purchase price and all attendant costs of the purchase of the property in the sum of Sh17,440,911.10 plus interest. This is the most appropriate remedy for the plaintiff,’’ the judge ordered.