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Ex-PS Dave Mwangi Trial: Ministry Officials Disown Signatures in Ksh 350M Land Fraud Case
The two prosecution witnesses testified against the former PS and his co-accused, who were charged with forging the title to a parcel of land measuring 1.592 hectares, valued at Ksh 350 million, the property of Hasmita Patel trading as Holloway Properties Limited, situated along Mombasa Road.
Two Ministry of Lands officials have testified before a Nairobi court in a case against former Interior Permanent Secretary Dave Mwangi, who is charged with Ksh 350 million in land fraud.
Jane Wanjiru, an advocate of the High Court who is currently working in the Ministry of Lands in Nairobi, testified before the Milimani Principal Magistrate Paul Mutai and disputed that the signatures on the documents provided by the former PS were hers.
Wanjiru, who has been working in the Ministry for the last 26 years, told the court that she was the one doing registration of titles and leases during the period the purported title was issued,
“Your Honour, the signatures on the documents are not mine; they were forgeries.” She told the Magistrate.
The land official told the court that even the way the title was signed was not proper as per the norm during the issuance of the titles,
“During the registration of a title, it is signed and stamped at the same time, but neither of the two overlays the other. On this title purported to be signed by me, the stamp lies over the signature, which was not my style of signing at all,” she said.
Another anomaly on the forged title was that it did not indicate the user of the land, which is a must where the government gives the conditions given on the use of the land.
Another witness, Pauline Achieng, an advocate of the High Court who works in the Ministry of Lands and formalises the official searches, denied having signed the search produced in court, purported to be signed on October 4, 2021.
“Your Honour, the signature on this particular search is not mine, and the stamp impression too. My stamp impression bears number 293, and this one is number 298,” She disputed.
The two prosecution witnesses testified against the former PS and his co-accused Sammy Louis Karanja, who were charged with forging the title to a parcel of land measuring 1.592 hectares, valued at Ksh 350 million, the property of Hasmita Patel trading as Holloway Properties Limited, situated along Mombasa Road.
The duo is jointly charged with five counts of conspiracy to commit a felony, forgery, obtaining money by pretences, and uttering a forged document.
They allegedly obtained Ksh 12 million from Onda Concrete Limited on November 10, 2023, by falsely pretending he was in a position to lease a parcel of land for them, LR NO. 20261, IR NO. 90202, which was a false statement.
They were also accused of forging the signature of another Commissioner of Lands, Jane Kanja, over the same parcel of land 25 years ago.
They purported that the said signature on the grant was signed by Mwaita and issued the grant, which was a false statement.
The duo denied that, in December 2023, at the DCI Headquarters fraudulently uttered the alleged forged grant of the said land to police Constable Omari Fadhila, claiming it was genuine and issued by the Ministry of Lands, while knowing it was false.
The last count is that of conspiring to commit a felony by allegedly defrauding the said Hasmita Patel by forging the letter of grant, claiming it was a genuine document issued by the Ministry of Lands.
