Court to hear Linturi, Kitany multi-million property case

What began as a marriage between lovebirds has now snowballed into a protracted legal battle over the ownership of a multi-million-shilling bungalow in the leafy Runda suburb.

Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Franklin Mithika Linturi is engaged in a vicious court battle with Aldai MP Marianne Kitany over the palatial house that is now threatening to put the independence of the court into disrepute.

Today, Linturi and Kitany are expected in court as the hearing of the dispute over multi-million property begins with each party laying claim. Court records indicate the two are wrangling shares in various blue chip companies, three parcels of land whose title deeds had been used to secure a Sh530 million loan, several parcels of land in Eldoret and Nairobi and some residential houses in Nairobi, among others.

Although the legislator finally got a reprieve last week when the court temporarily barred Mithika from evicting her from the house, the court is being accused of issuing contradictory orders in the case.  “That the stay or execution for the orders issued by the Court on February 7, 2023 is hereby granted pending the directions of the court on February 22, 2023,” Chief Magistrate Wendy Micheni stated in an order issued on February 15, 2023.

Ironically, it was the same Micheni who had on February 7 granted Linturi the go ahead to evict Kitany from the house, a decision that the legislator’s lawyer Moses Kurgat said was based on false information. Last week, Linturi engaged the services of auctioneers who moved to evict Kitany from the house claiming that they were in possession of a court order issued by Micheni.

But Kurgat says that the eviction was carried out despite the existence of another court order issued on February 15 by the same magistrate who issued the first one, staying the orders she had issued on February 7 pending directions from the court on February 22.

Though Kitany has been occupying the multi-million house, Linturi got orders to evict her after the courts declared that there was no marriage between the two, hence she had no claim on the property.

Linturi’s lawyer Muthomi Thiankolu says the last Wednesday night eviction was on the strength of a court order issued on February 7 that instructed the Runda Police Station to provide security and assistance in evicting Kitany from the house.

But Kurgat discounts the claim, insisting that the eviction was illegal still there was no court order authorising any eviction and that Linturi had made his application in court based on a pending appeal over their disputed marriage. “Micheni first issued some purported orders based on a wrong application without considering the orders issued by a superior court challenging those she had issued, but on noticing the anomaly, she moved very fast and amended her earlier decision by issuing another order barring them,” says Kurgat.

Utter confusion

The court orders have not spared police either, who have also been left in utter confusion forcing them to seek guidance from the Judiciary.

The Deputy Inspector General of the Kenya Police Service Edward Mbugua has written to the Deputy Registrar of the High Court, seeking for clarity on the matter that he says has left more confusion after two contradicting orders were issued on February 13, 2023 in Nairobi in the CMC Divorce Case No 272 of 2019 vis-à-vis the High Court orders of January 2019 issued in the Civil suit No. 71 of 2018. “Following a request for police assistance in execution of court orders issued on February 7, 2023 through Nairobi Chief Magistrate Court (Commercial) Divorce cause No. 272 209-John Mutwiri Mbijiwe  trading as Beeline Auctioneers and Franklin Mithika Linturi vs Marianne Jebet Kitany, the service on behalf of the OCS Runda Police Station seeks directions on its enforcement role in view of the contradictory court orders,” Denis Nandi, says in a confidential  letter dated February 20 on behalf of Mbugua.

The fight over the house began on September 27 last year when chief magistrate Heston Nyaga collapsed a divorce case that had been filed by Kitany in 2019 with a judgment that the CS and the MP were never married.  Kitany has since moved to the High Court to appeal the judgment.

During the hearing of the case, Linturi maintained that though they used to stay together, they were not married. The two fell in love when Kitany worked in the office of then Deputy President William Ruto. The court was told Linturi paid dowry and gave money to Kitany’s family.

But Linturi insisted that Kitany forged papers showing he divorced his other wife.

Based on Nyaga’s judgment, Kitany moved to the High Court, expressing fears that Linturi was out to evict her from their home. She asked the court to restrain Linturi or his agents from evicting, interfering with her quiet possession, stay and occupation of the home until the matter was determined.

Meanwhile, Kitany has lodged a separate case where she claims that she solely built the Runda house.