[Source: The Standard, by Kamau Muthoni]
A buyer and a sacco are facing a Sh13 million loss for failing to ascertain whether a man had sought his wife’s consent to sell a piece of land. Third-party buyer Joseck Mukuha, a resident of Murang’a County, bought the contested land estimated to be a quarter acre from one James Kanyuga and used it as collateral to secure a Sh13 loan from Unaitas Sacco in 2014.
Mr Kanyuga had bought the land from SKK a month earlier. The deal was later found to be fraudulent. It emerged in the case that SKK is Kanyuga’s uncle.
SKK’s wife, dubbed MWK, upon learning that he had sold the land behind her back, sought the court’s help, arguing that it was matrimonial property hence he ought to have sought her consent. High Court Judge Grace Kemei, while agreeing with MWK, cancelled the sale, noting that the transfer was done fraudulently. The judge also noted that crucial documents that allowed the transfer were missing and put the sacco on the spot for giving out the loan without confirming the ownership of the land.
The sacco and the buyer filed separate defences, denying that the land had been illegally sold.
[Full article on: The Standard, by Kamau Muthoni]
