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Lands and Housing Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome has been caught in the middle of a dispute over ownership of a Sh600 million land in Nairobi.

This is after Wahome wrote to a commercial bank warning the lender that it may have relied on a disputed title to advance a Sh308 million loan.

The land in question is situated opposite Loreto Convent School, along the junction of 4th Ngong Avenue and Bishops Road, in Upper Hill, area and measures 0.2726 hectares (approximately an acre).

The property registered as Nairobi Block 27/508 (formerly L.R No. 209/18572 and formerly No. 209/508 I.R 5670) is being claimed by two entities; Hassan Yusuf Abdille and International Homes Limited.

On May 23, 2024 Wahome wrote to the KCB Bank Group chief executive Paul Russo alleging an existence of a forged title that was used by Abdille to secure the loan.

However, in a turn of events, Abdille through his lawyers, has written to the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mohamed Amin demanding that the Lands CS is probed for abuse of office and allegedly aiding fraud.

The letter dated June 4, 2024 and marked received at the DCI headquarters on June 5, 2024, has questioned the powers of the minister to determine the ownership of the land.

Abdille through lawyer Victor Rapando has questioned the criteria used by the CS to determine the legitimate owner of the plot yet in her own letter to the bank, she had acknowledged that she hasn’t seen documents from his client or listened to his side.

“It’s outrageous that a whole Cabinet Secretary would conclude that a party’s land ownership document as illegitimate and at the same time purport that a concerned party that has been condemned unheard has been summoned to present his version of facts,” lawyer Rapando wrote.

Defraud and deprive

Abdille claims Wahome and the Ministry of Lands is for unexplained reasons openly aiding International Homes Ltd to defraud and deprive him interest over ownership of the land without regard to the constitution.

“Our client further invites your office to investigate the conduct of the Cabinet Secretary and her office and establish her culpability relative to the complaint of abuse of office, fraud, unlawful deprivation of private and conflict of interest, which we hereby lodge,” Rapando states.

Abdille insists he validly purchased the property from the previous owner Mohamed Ibrahim Abdulah who had equally purchased the same from Abdur Mohamed Hussin, Imran Mohamed Salim and Iram Shahzad Ibrahim.

Ownership documents

On June 5,  2023 he charged the property to I&M Bank Ltd; which charge was discharged on the February 23, 2024.

And on March 25, 2024 he legally and validly charged the parcel to KCB Bank to secure a facility of Sh308 million after due diligence and confirmation of ownership documents by the banks.

Equally Abdille had attached documents from the Nairobi City County Government showing records of him paying land rates.

However, in her letter, Wahome insisted the Chief Land Registrar had already placed a caution on Abdille’s title documents warning the bank that it risked exposure.