Kenyan multimillionaire businessman Humphrey Kariuki is locked in a legal battle with the Telposta Pension Scheme Trustees Registered over the ownership of a prime land parcel in Nairobi.
The dispute centers around a claim by the scheme that the land was reserved for public use and was illegally and fraudulently registered in the name of Kariuki’s company, Crucial Properties Limited, in 1998.
According to court papers, the Telposta Pension Scheme Trustees argued that the transfer and registration of the land in the name of the private entity were fraudulent, illegal, wrongful, null, and void. The scheme seeks to recover the land on behalf of the pensioners.
Crucial Properties Limited, on the other hand, claims to be the legitimate owner of the property based on the adverse possession rule, as it has occupied the land for 24 years without interruption. The company, owned by Rine Hart Limited and indirectly by Humphrey and Nyawira Kariuki, initially sought to have the suit dismissed, arguing that the claim was time-barred.
The company relied on Section 7 of the Limitation of Actions Act, stating that a claim for land recovery cannot be instituted after the end of 12 years from the date the other party occupied the land.
Justice Oguttu Mboya ruled that the objection was devoid of merits and that the plea of statutory limitation was not well grounded. He noted that among the triable issues is the date of accrual of the occupation.
The judge stated that the pension scheme, in its court papers, contends that the information pertaining to the registration of the suit property in the name of the company came to the knowledge of the Scheme in 2013.
He also observed that the provisions of Section 26 of the Limitation of Actions Act, prescribe that where fraud or mistake is concealed, the time for filing or commencing suit shall be reckoned and computed from when the fraud or mistake is discovered and not earlier.
Humphrey Kariuki is a leading Kenyan multimillionaire businessman and the founder of Africa Spirits Limited, a Kenyan alcoholic beverage manufacturer. He is also the founder of Janus Continental Group, a multinational conglomerate that employs over 200 people and consists of market-leading companies in the energy, hospitality, and real estate sectors.
In addition to his ownership of Janus Continental Group and Africa Spirits Limited, the Kenyan multimillionaire businessman also owns the five-star Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, and the Animal Orphanage. He also has a stake in Great Lakes Africa Energy, a U.K.-based company that develops and operates power projects in Southern Africa.
