BY SAM ALFAN.
A businessman alleged to have demolished a Sh55 million house owned an elderly couple in Westlands, Nairobi, will be charged on Friday.
Francis Nyaga Njeru appeared in court Wednesday and was released on cash bail of Sh300,000 so could appear before the National Land Commission to defend his ownership of the property, which he allegedly pulled down on Sunday.
Prosecutor Lindsy Mugambi sought to have Mr Njeru detained for 7 days to complete investigations and prefer charges against him.
The magistrate however declined to grant the prosecution request on the basis that they improperly served the court documents in that they had no signatures and that there were no proper reasons before court to detain him.
Prosecution accuses Njeru of hiring goons who demolished a house whose lease had expired and claimed it had changed ownership.
Njeru however through his lawyer Michael Osundwa told court that he is set to appear before National Lands Commission for a review of the land dispute.
In her application, Ms Mugambi had sought to have Njeru placed in custody for seven days to enable investigators conduct a thorough search at the Lands Registry for the real owner.
“I urge this court to order Njeru be remanded at Muthaiga Police Station for investigators to piece together evidence about the ownership,” Ms Mugambi urged.
“The property worth Sh55 million which was pulled down using bulldozers…has been the home of Mr Nazmudin Kurji, 73 and his wife Parin Kurji, 70, for 40 years,” she added.
However, defence lawyer Michael Osundwa opposed the request saying, “there is no formal application filed in court.”
Mr Osundwa said notice of motion has not been formally filed in court filed by the Police.
“There isn’t a binding legal application before this court to urging the detention of Mr Njeru. I plead you discharge him,” said Mr Osundwa.
The magistrate rejected the defence plea saying “this matter is in the public domain or of great public interest.”
However she released the suspect on bond to await Mr Njeru’s indictment for malicious damage to property and for demolition charges to be formally filed in court.
The case is due on December 9 for plea talking.
On Sunday, the Kurji family was forcefully evicted from their home by a group of men armed with machetes and clubs.
They only managed to salvage some items before a bulldozer flattened their home.
Jameeta Kurji told the media that the family has owned the piece of land since 1972.
She said two brothers, Nazmudin and Sadrudin, built a duplex – two houses separated by a wall – on the parcel that year.
“Since the death of Sadrudin, the house was occupied by my father, Nazmudin, and mother Parin, and my other sibling,” she said.
The National Lands Commission and the police had launched investigations to establish the ownership of the disputed piece of land.
The NLC intends to review the grants and will on Friday morning hold public hearings for the property.
All the parties are required to produce at least six document to support ownership including letter of allotment, receipt of payment, deed plans, leases and title deeds.
Njeru had told the investigators that he applied for lease in 2008 in a letter dated December 18, 2008 to the Commissioner of Lands.
