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The Nairobian

Blow to Kabogo as court orders fresh hearing of Runda land case

Nairobi

By Nancy Gitonga | Feb 13, 2025

**ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo is embroiled in a multi-billion shilling land dispute.** [File, Standard]

ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo has suffered a major setback following a Court of Appeal decision to overturn a High Court ruling in a multi-billion shilling land dispute.

The judgment rendered by Court of Appeal set aside the High Court’s dismissal of a lawsuit that alleged the CS had fraudulently taken possession of the land in Runda belonging to his uncle Kimani Kabogo, which is believed to be the site of a multi-billion-shilling real estate project.

A three-judge bench, consisting of justices George Odunga, Aggrey Muchelule, and Abidah Ali Aroni, ruled in favour of Kabogo’s uncle, concluding that the High Court had erred in striking out the lawsuit.

The judges emphasised the merits of the appeal directing that the case be retried by a judge other than Justice Lucy Gacheru who had originally dismissed the case seeking to find CS Kabogo had fraudulently acquired the property without the consent of his uncle.

“Having considered the issues raised before us, we find merit in this appeal, which we hereby allow. We set aside the decision of the learned judge, allowing the preliminary objections and substitute it therefore with a decision dismissing the preliminary objections,” the appeal judges remarked.

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The case revolves around a long-standing dispute over properties in the Runda area, which Kabogo allegedly sold without his uncle’s consent, despite an agreement to hold the land in trust. According to Kimani, the land was initially registered in his name in March 1998. He used the property as collateral for loans from NIC Bank and ICDC, but after failing to service the loans due to high interest rates, he turned to his nephew for assistance.

The court papers reveal that Kimani used one of the properties to secure a loan of Sh10 million from NIC bank and another property to secure a loan of Sh5 million from ICDC.

“That sometime in September 2000 as Kimani was unable to service the facilities due to exorbitant interest rates, he sought the help of Kabogo who paid off the loan due to NIC Bank to avert the sale of LR.No.12825/27 and 12825/34 by public auction. He also sought the assistance of Kabogo in 2003 to salvage LR.No.12825/33, which was on the verge of being auctioned by ICDC, for recovery of the aforesaid loan,” the court papers state.

Justice Aroni argued that the matter could not be settled through summary proceedings based on preliminary objections alone.