Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko has secured another legal victory after the Environment and Land Court in Kwale ruled in his favor in a long-running land ownership dispute.
In the judgment delivered virtually, the court dismissed a case that sought to revoke Sonko’s title deed for a parcel of land in Kwale County and instead ordered former Member of Parliament Omari Zonga to refund Ksh7.9 million to a private company involved in the transaction.
The dispute centered around contested ownership of the same land, which both Sonko and the company claimed to have purchased.
The company had sued Sonko, the Attorney General, and Zonga, alleging that the former Nairobi governor obtained his title deed fraudulently.
Sonko, listed as the first defendant, maintained that he bought the property from Zonga in 2013, and his title deed was duly issued on March 26, 2013.
However, court records revealed that Zonga sold the same land a year later, in April 2014, to a private company for Ksh7.75 million, despite already transferring it to Sonko.
The company, unaware of the earlier transaction, later sought to have Sonko’s ownership revoked and accused him of working with land officials to acquire the title illegally. After examining the evidence, the court ruled that the company had failed to prove any fraudulent activity.
“The first defendant cannot be blamed for the earlier sale. The pleadings clearly show that the third defendant failed to disclose the earlier transaction, which exonerates the first defendant,” the judgment stated.
The court further held that Zonga bore full responsibility for the double sale and ordered him to refund Ksh7,905,040, including stamp duty charges.
This ruling marks Sonko’s second major legal win in less than a week, coming shortly after the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) was ordered to unfreeze nine of his bank accounts holding over Ksh537 million, after the court found no evidence of corruption or misuse of funds.
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