Nairobi: Land buyers have been warned against purchasing plots linked to Embakasi Ranching Company amid claims that disputed company property, including public utility land, is being sold to unsuspecting members of the public.
According to Kenya News Agency, directors and shareholders from a faction of the company’s leadership led by chairman David Mwangi Wanderi urged buyers to conduct thorough due diligence and establish the legitimacy of anyone claiming authority to sell the company’s land before entering into transactions.
Speaking during a special members’ meeting in Ruai, Nairobi, the leaders accused individuals purporting to be legitimate company officials of misleading the public and engaging in transactions involving land whose ownership remains contested.
Wanderi alleged that some of the disputed property being sold included land set aside for schools, markets, and other public amenities, warning that buyers risk losing their money if they acquire plots that are later found not to have been legitimately allocated.
He also cautioned that individuals found to have participated in illegal land transactions could face legal consequences, urging prospective buyers to verify ownership and allocation records before making any payments.
Embakasi Ranching director Gabriel Gitonga said genuine shareholders had endured years of uncertainty as they waited for their land rights to be resolved, with pending court cases expected to determine the ownership and allocation of the disputed properties.
Gitonga urged members to remain patient, saying any person found to have acquired land that does not belong to them would be required to surrender it because the law must be followed.
The company has about 3,500 members, some of whom said they have waited for more than five decades to secure their land rights, with several elderly shareholders dying before their claims were resolved.
The members said they bought shares in the early 1970s with the expectation of receiving eight plots each, but many are yet to receive the properties or secure title deeds more than 50 years later.
Shareholders Josephine Njeri and Isabella Munyaga said the prolonged dispute had subjected them and their families to financial and emotional strain as they continued pursuing their claims.
Another shareholder, Benson Ngugi, said some parents had died while pursuing their land rights, leaving their families to continue the struggle.
Ngugi said shareholders would have developed their properties and improved their livelihoods had they received their plots and title deeds in good time.
