President Uhuru Kenyatta’s cousin, Ngegi Muigai has lost yet another attempt to prevent a real estate company from taking over his farm.
Muigai headed to court seeking to block Bidii Kenya from taking control of his 443-acre farm in Thika.
However, his application to prevent the firm from taking over the property which was acquired at a auction site as denied by the Court of Appeal.
Justices Roselyn Nambuye, Fatuma Sichale, and Sankale Ole Kantai ruled in the favour of Bidii which acquired the land 15 years ago.
The land was auctioned after 18 cases filed by Muigai to prevent a local bank from attaching the property were thrown out.
Muigai is said to have borrowed a KSh 18.6 million loan from a local bank through his Benjoh Amalgamated Ltd, as the primary borrower.
He had hoped to use the money to start a coffee estate in 1998.
Muigai secured the loan by using the land which was held by Benjph Ltd and Muiri Coffee Estates which became the guarantor.
Hell broke loose when he defaulted the loan shortly before the bank announced that it would auction the land.
However, Muigai rushed to court and obtained a court order barring the bank from auctioning the land.
When court restrictions prohibiting sale were lifted in 2007, the bank held an auction, with Bidii Kenya coming out on top with a KSh 70 million bid.
In 2020, Muigai submitted a public petition in the National Assembly requesting that the auction and Bidii Kenya’s purchase be revoked.
However, the National Assembly Finance Committee ruled that the bank followed due process while auctioning the land.
