Kayole professional land grabber,named in another bigger scandal

The reclusive tycoon behind mass evictions and demolitions in Nyama Villa estate, Kayole,and reportedly said to be reclaiming the land, is himself a victim of such demolition, but for which the State had to pay him Sh700 million.

Mike Kamau Maina, the proprietor of Marble Arch Hotel in Nairobi, was last in news a year ago after winning huge compensation for his home that was demolished in Nairobi’s upmarket Spring Valley neighborhood.

However the billionaire is far from trouble as new evidence has linked him to massive land grabbing in a report contained in the ‘Report On the Commission of Inquiry Into the Illegal/Irregular Allocation of Public Land’, commonly known as the Ndungu Report, Annexes Volume II for allegedly acquiring 74 acres belonging to the Kenya Forest Service in Kiambu.

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The businessman runs his Muthithi Investment Company  from Marble Arch Hotel , the firm that began knocking down an entire residential estate in Kayole.

The business man through his company is said to have dawned on the citizens with five brand new bulldozers. The demolition squad started by disconnecting the power from the main supply, plunging the estate into darkness.
The bulldozers then descended on properties erected on a 20-acre parcel of land in Kayole, with at least 100 heavily armed officers on guard.

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The Ndungu report was presented to former President Mwai Kibaki in June 2014 for implementation, but the annexes were never made public.

The tycoon, through his firm Pelican Engineering Company, excised 74.2 acres from the 333.95 acres of Kiambu Forest Block LR. No. 15153, in the 1990s.

A search done by the Star at the Registrar of Companies shows Maina is the sole proprietor of Pelican Engineering Company. The firm’s offices are located along Limuru Road on plot LR. No. 209/2535/3.

The firm was registered on August 13, 1982, as a private company under registration number C.23550. The report said Maina “took possession” of the land “illegally” and recommended revocation of the title. The Star visited the plot last Monday and found several luxury houses built on the land.

 

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Kenya Forest Service head of survey and mapping Evans Kegode said the entire Kiambu Forest is still gazetted as public land.

“No single part of Kiambu Block has ever been degazetted and allocated to either a private or public entity,” Kegode said.

Documents obtained by the Star shows that on February 6, 2006, the KFS issued a notice to Pelican Engineering Ltd to vacate the plot.

But the firm, through D Njogu & Company Advocates, replied on February 10 stating that the notice was ‘vexatious and not worthy of any attention’ and asked KFS to withdraw the notice.

“Our client was allocated the land and issued with a title deed according to law. Get the facts and seek legal advice,” the law firm said in the response.

On February 21, 2006, then Lands PS Kombo Mwero issued a ministerial circular to the Attorney General and all accounting officers in government institutions that all public Land illegally allocated to private entities as captured in the Ndungu Report, be repossessed.

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In July 14, 2010,  bulldozers tore down his eight-bedroom mansion to make way for a bypass that runs through the posh neighbourhoods around Westlands.
Justification for bringing down the property was that Maina had acquired the land reserved for the road where he built the home in the 2007.
At the time of demolition, he had never lived in the house, it was just nearing completion.
He successfully defended the acquisition of the land, claiming before the court to have purchased it at Sh80 million.
Before the suit against the State, the businessman in his younger days had fallen out with mortgage lender Housing Finance in a matter that ended up before the court.Image result for Mike Kamau Maina kayole demolitions
Maina had entered into an agreement worth Sh712 million with the lender to build homes to be acquired by the staff of the Kenya Revenue Authority in 1998.
The deal fell through and the lender reneged to remit the funds.
Justice Jessie Lesiit ruled against the businessman in the determination delivered in July 2009, ordering Maina to pay HF Sh3 million in costs.

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