Kenyan companies linked to land sales in Kiambu County are again embroiled in controversy after a flagship property was accused of fraudulent dealings.
In court filings, Finsco Africa and Heri Homes are accused of selling land over which the heirs of a coffee farming dynasty are feuding.
The 200-acre parcel, marketed as Legacy Ridges, sits on Ruiru-Kamiti Road and is advertised as “affordability meets lifestyle”, with properties starting at Kshs 8.4 million.
Also known as Wamikey Estate Limited, the family property is allegedly being illegally sold off by Virginia Waithera, in collusion with Finsco Africa and Heri Homes, without the authorisation of other family members.
Waithera is the second wife of prominent Kiambu businessman David Ndua Thuo (deceased).
The children of Thuo’s first marriage to Alice Njeri moved to court to stop Waithera from managing Wamikey “without transparency to the rest of the family to the extent that she has sold and/or transferred shares and/or tampered with the registration of the property.”
“Waithera has entered into an illegal joint venture agreement with developers known as Heri Homes, Finsco Africa, who are developing the property belonging to the estate and have named the development Legacy Ridges,” said Godfrey Alfred Hinga, a son of the deceased businessman.
Following the launch of the real estate project at an event on 22 February 2022, Higa says he wrote to Waithera, Heri Homes and Finsco Africa, but they failed to respond to the letter.
In court filings, Hinga states that the land allegedly misappropriated for Legacy Ridges has a value of more than KES 1 billion and that the Wamikey Estate “as a whole risks being lost to scammers.”
“Virginia Waithera does not have any higher right than the other beneficiaries of the estate,” he states.
The court case risks snarling the Legacy Ridges development.
The woes of Finsco Africa and Heri Homes stretch across Kiambu County to another development, Riverline Ridges, now stalled due to court allegations of a fraud that pits heirs of Bernard Njinu Kiarie, a powerful Moi-era police chief, against each other.
According to court filings, Fisnco and Heri Homes have not purchased the 428 acres but are already selling the land to unsuspecting buyers without disclosing the lack of clear title.