A bid to have former Nairobi Provincial Commissioner (PC) Davis Nathan Chelogoi plead to a Sh1.3bn land fraud case from a hospital bed hit a brick wall when the Nairobi Hospital management declined to allow the magistrate to carry out her judicial duties at the health facility.
Milimani senior principal magistrate Dolphina Alego, a state prosecutor, a defence lawyer Prof Tom Ojienda, the victim’s lawyer, and the media were denied access to the facility as no prior arrangements on security and other internal matters.
The judicial officer and her court teams gathered outside the health facility and were denied access.
The hospital security team denied the court access citing privacy issues.
Ms Alego had directed Chelogoi charged with conspiracy to defraud Mr Ashok Rupshi Shah and Hitenkumar Amritlal Raja of an 18-acre parcel of land on Lower Kabete Road to take a plea wherever he was on March 15, 2024.
A co-accused Andrew Kirungu, a senior official at the Ministry of Lands, was released after paying a cash bail of Sh1.5 million after denying the charges.
Mr Kirungu, an Assistant Director land administrator, and Mr Chelogoi are accused of procuring the registration of the contested land, by falsely pretending that it belongs to the former administrator.
The charge sheet stated that they committed the offence on diverse dates between December 9, 2020, and June 4, 2021.
Mr Kirungu was also accused of causing the fraudulent registration of the certificate of Title L.R. No. 18485 1.R. No.232908 in abuse of authority.
Mr Chelogoi has been fighting over the ownership of the land since 2009 but lost the fight when the Environment and Land Court ruled that it was grabbed by late businessman Jacob Juma in 2008.
The court ruled last year that Mr Juma, who died in May 2016, fraudently obtained documents to the land.
Justice Loise Komingoi then ordered the cancellation of the face documents and directed Juma’s widow – Ms Miriam Wairimu to compensate Mr Shah and Kumar Sh50 million as damages for trespass and for denying the real owners the right to enjoy their property.
Mr Chelogoi later sought to quash the decision arguing he was condemned unheard but his application to reopen the case was rejected.
He was, however, allowed to join the case to file an appeal.
Mr Shah and Kumar moved to court in 2009 arguing that Mr Juma fraudulently took over the land, fenced it and built security houses to deny them access.
The former PC claimed he was allocated the land by former President Daniel Moi in 1995.
But investigations later revealed that Mr Kirungu assisted Mr Chelogoi procure the registration fraudulently.
Following the decision in 2023, Mr Ashok says he later discovered that Mr Chelogoi had filed a separate claim over the land using fraudulent documents.
Through his lawyers, Macharia Mwangi & Njeru Advocates, Mr Ashok said he applied for the reconstruction of the records at the Ministry of Lands only to discover the records have been interfered with by unscrupulous persons.
Victim lawyer Suleiman Bashir while addressing the media outside the court expressed his frustration with the actions of the suspect.
Ms Alego directed all parties to file a formal application by the next mention date before leaving the hospital premises.
The prosecution informed the Court it intends to parade a total of 21 witnesses in the case.
