[Source: Daily Nation, by Joseph Wangui]
A 79-year-old man has been convicted by a Nyeri court for forging land ownership documents and fraudulently obtaining registration from the Ministry of Lands.
Mr John Wagura Ikiki was convicted Monday by Senior Principal Magistrate Phillip Mutua who found him guilty of three criminal charges involving conspiracy to defraud, forgery and obtaining registration by false pretence.
The magistrate noted that Mr Ikiki falsely became the owner of a plot measuring quarter of an acre which was initially registered and owned by Kenya African Othaya Bus Union (KAOBU).
Mr Ikiki committed the offence on March 14, 2011 jointly with others not before the court, prosecution said.
He was accused of conspiring to defraud KAOBU of its land by falsely registering the same as his property.
He was further charged that jointly with others and on the same date he forged a document namely certificate of lease, purporting it to be genuine certificate issued and signed by the then Nyeri Land Registrar Mr John Wanjohi Gichuki.
Mr Ikiki faced a third count, which stated that he obtained land registration document and number by falsely pretending that he acquired the said land legally from KAOBU, a fact he knew was false.
In his ruling, the magistrate found that without conspiring with others in the Lands registry, Mr Ikiki would not have been able to claim ownership of the land which the court noted he did not have.
Mr Ikiki will be sentenced on April 14.
[Full article: Daily Nation, by Joseph Wangui]
