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Jirongo demands Sh 250 million compensation from City Hall


Businessman and former presidential candidate Cyrus Jirongo wants the Nairobi county government to pay him Sh250 million.

The monies are supposed to be compensation over a parcel of land allegedly taken away from him by the defunct Nairobi City Council nearly ten years ago.

According to Mr Jirongo, the county government is reluctant to compensate him his lawful dues timely.

‘FINANCIAL CHALLENGES’

“I have personally been to the County government’s offices more than 50 times but I have constantly been told to wait as they are experiencing some financial challenges,” said Mr Jirongo.

Through lawyer Kenneth Kiplagat, he has filed the suit by the name of Kuza Farm & Allied Limited which allegedly belongs to him and has sued Mr Sonko and the County Executive Committee member for finance.

In the case documents, Mr Jirongo claimed that the court had ordered that he be paid the said monies in a July 28, 2016 decree for land known as LR No.209/11887 and 58301.

He alleged that the row over the disputed land started way back in 2008 when the Nairobi City Council purported to allocate it to third parties which forced him to take the matter to court at the time.

He claimed that both the National Land Commission and the Attorney General have confirmed that he is the bonafide owner of the disputed land but the county government has failed to pay him his monies.

UNDER RECEIVERSHIP

Kuza Farms and Allied Limited was among six companies placed under receivership by the Central Bank of Kenya in 2015 for having defaulted on their loans when Dubai Bank was put under statutory management on August 14 that year.

The move came after a report by external auditor Horwath Erustus and Company to the Finance, Planning and Trade Committee of the National Assembly in May 2016 revealed that the bank had non-performing loans amounting to Sh2.5 billion from December 2014.

Mr Jirongo, who was a presidential candidate on a United Democratic Party ticket in the August 8, 2017 polls, challenged the legality of the receivership of the said farm in court.

In October last year, High Court judge Olga Sewe found the former Lugari MP unable to pay Sh700 million he owed eight companies hence declared him as bankrupt.

The court also directed that an official receiver be appointed as a trustee of his estate. But he obtained a reprieve several days later regarding the bankruptcy declaration.