A businessman who is alleged to have sold a piece of land to Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama on Tuesday denied ever owning the plot.
Mr Yusuf Mustafah Ratemo said he left Nakuru in 2008 following the post-election violence but never owned any property in the town.
The businessman, who now lives in Kajiado, said he did not know how his name and details were used in the documents which were used in the sale of the property. He further said he did not recall appearing before a lawyer, Kennedy Onkoba, for the sale transaction.
Mr Arama and Mr Onkoba have denied seven counts of conspiracy to defraud. They are said to have committed the offences between August 3, 2015 and August 11, 2015. The prosecution said the two conspired to defraud Ahmed Muhammad Nisar of his plot in Nakuru town.
Yesterday, Mr Ratemo denied selling the plot to Mr Arama for Sh 60 million although the documents used in the transaction purportedly belong to him. He said while in Nakuru, he used to frequent a pub allegedly owned by the MP and they became friends. He also said he knows Mr Onkoba but he does not remember appearing before him.
The MP through his lawyer Danstan Omari said the witness was lying because he claimed not to have owned a property in Nakuru but during cross-examination, he said he owned a property there but did not remember whom he sold it to.
[Article source: The Business Daily, by Sam Kiplagat]
