Former Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa has once again found herself embroiled in a legal battle, this time with an proprietor over a multi-million house she acquired last year.
Jumwa was taken to court by Bejav Furniture Limited over the Kshs 250 million house that she bought in 2023, alleging that she is yet to complete payments according to the agreement terms.
Bejav Furniture initially sought to have the former CS declared bankrupt, but the case was referred for mediation, which has stalled. This has led the house’s owner Roselyn Wambui to seek legal recourse to initiate a debt recovery case in court.
Bejav’s lawsuit seeks to compel Aisha to pay Kshs 60 million, which was part of the sale agreement. The suit alleges that Aisha Jumwa reached out to Wambui to buy the house valued at Kshs 250 million, four months after she assumed office as Cabinet Secretary on October 27, 2022.
Aisha pleaded with Wambui and successfully negotiated the price reduction from Kshs 250 million to Kshs 215 million.
“I instructed my advocate Kinyanjui Kirimi and Company Advocates to draw a sale agreement and send it to the defendant advocate, the firm of Mohamoud, Gitau, & Jillo LLP Advocates, which was done on February 25, 2023,” Wambui told the court on July 26, 2024.
She mentioned that while Aisha’s lawyers acknowledged receipt of the sale agreement, they revealed that Aisha was seeking financial support to buy the property. After consulting with her lenders, Aisha found out she could only obtain Kshs 145 million from KCB.
“Her advocates suggested on March 1, 2023, that we had to have an agreement for the sake of the banks (KCB and the Gulf Bank) and an addendum for the extra amount agreed between the parties, which was not being financed,” Wambui told the court.
Wambui alleged that she failed to remove the decorations and furnishings from the house as required. She further stated that the addendum agreement with Jumwa reflected this, increasing the total amount Jumwa owed to Kshs 70 million, rather than the original Kshs 60 million deficit.
She mentioned that, from the portion not financed by the bank, Aisha paid Kshs 10 million and promised to settle the remaining Kshs 60 million within a 12 months.
“The issue of the 12 months was agreed upon and was even captured in the shared first draft agreement. It was clear and completely uncontested that the price of the house was KSh 215 million,” Wambui informed the court. She transferred the house to Aisha, and it was subsequently used as collateral for a loan that the former CS obtained from KCB Bank.
She has issued several demand letters to Aisha concerning the remaining balance, requesting an explanation for its non-payment. All of these letters have been ignored and she now seeks the outstanding amount plus 18.5 percent interest until it is fully settled.
Aisha has asked the court to dismiss the case, claiming it does not have the authority to handle the issue. She argues that disputes between the seller and buyer should be settled through arbitration and notes that they have already been addressed by a mediator to help resolve the case.
