Equity Bank Group Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi has suffered a major legal and personal setback after the Court of Appeal declined to stop the execution of a judgment ordering his eviction from a sprawling Sh1 billion mansion in Nairobi’s leafy Muthaiga suburb.

In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, a three-judge bench of the Court of Appeal — comprising Justices Daniel Musinga, Patrick Kiage, and Agrey Muchelule — rejected Mwangi’s application to halt enforcement of an earlier Environment and Land Court decision that found he was unlawfully occupying property belonging to another party.

Instead, the appellate court ordered Mwangi and his wife, Jane Wangui Mundia, to deposit Sh10 million as security in an interest-earning joint account within 60 days as their appeal proceeds. The judges also directed that the status quo over the contested three-acre property be maintained pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.

However, court documents reveal that the eviction had already been carried out.

According to filings dated January 7, 2026, Mount Pleasant Limited — the firm that successfully sued Mwangi — executed the eviction order under the supervision of officers from Gigiri Police Station, effectively taking possession of the property.

“The above court order has been executed today the 07/01/2026 under supervision of the OCS Gigiri and now the plaintiff Mount Pleasant Ltd has now gained possession of the property,” reads the court document signed by the Gigiri police commander.

The development marks a dramatic fall from grace for Mwangi, one of Kenya’s most influential business leaders, whose rags-to-riches story has long symbolised African entrepreneurship. The Equity Bank CEO had claimed to have purchased the property in 2013 from former President Daniel arap Moi for Sh306 million.

At the centre of the dispute is businessman Anverali Amershi Karmali, who through Mount Pleasant Limited insists he bought the same property seven years earlier, in July 2006, from former Finance Minister Arthur Magugu and his wife Margaret Wairimu for Sh130 million.

In a stinging judgment delivered in October 2025, Environment and Land Court Judge Oscar Angote ordered Mwangi and his wife to vacate the property within 30 days or face forcible eviction by police from Gigiri and Muthaiga stations. The court also awarded Mount Pleasant Limited Sh10 million in damages for trespass, citing the property’s prime location, its three-acre size, the duration of the alleged trespass and its estimated value of Sh1 billion based on 2022 assessments.

Justice Angote further directed the Chief Land Registrar to cancel all titles, entries and conveyances linked to Mwangi’s claimed ownership and to nullify the amalgamation of subdivided parcels into a single title — effectively wiping out any legal record of the banker’s claim to the land.

While Mwangi maintained that he took possession of the property immediately after receiving his title in 2013, the court found that Mount Pleasant’s security guards remained on the land until March 2020, when they were allegedly forcefully removed by the Mwangis.

Although the Directorate of Criminal Investigations did not conclusively establish forgery, the court ruled that the numerous procedural and documentary anomalies surrounding Mwangi’s title were sufficient, on a balance of probabilities, to impeach it.

“While the court stops short of finding fraud attributable to the defendants to the requisite standard of proof, the procedural and documentary irregularities would, on their own, suffice to impeach the title,” Justice Angote ruled.

Court records paint a picture of a property saga riddled with irregularities dating back nearly two decades. The land had initially been charged to National Bank in the late 1980s by MDC Holdings Limited to secure a Sh10.5 million loan. After default, the bank sued, eventually agreeing in 2002 to sell the property for Sh90 million to recover its debt and compensate Magugu.

Karmali told the court that after acquiring the land in good faith, land registry files relating to the property mysteriously disappeared from the Ministry of Lands. He later discovered that duplicate titles had been issued, with both parties holding certificates showing them as registered owners of the same property.

The dispute escalated into open confrontation in June 2020 when Mwangi allegedly arrived at the property accompanied by police officers, removed Karmali’s guards and installed his own — prompting Mount Pleasant Limited to seek court intervention.

The Court of Appeal has now directed that the matter be fast-tracked, ordering the parties to attend a case management conference within 30 days and to file written submissions ahead of the hearing.

Until then, Mwangi must comply with the Sh10 million security order as Mount Pleasant Limited remains in possession of the contested Muthaiga estate — a sobering chapter for a banking executive whose career has been built on financial discipline, now caught in a legal battle that has once again exposed deep-seated flaws in Kenya’s land ownership system.

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Global investors have been urged to look beyond conventional markets and unlock the immense, yet largely untapped, trade and investment opportunities within Kenya and the broader East African region.

The call came from Equity Group’s top leadership in the ongoing Kenya Trade & Investment Roadshow 2025, emphasizing the region’s demographic dividend, abundant resources, and a burgeoning private sector.

Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Group CEO and Managing Director, framed the current global economic landscape as a “turning point,” highlighting the growing significance of the private sector worldwide.

“For the first time, we see the private sector, particularly the listed companies, have a bigger market cap than the entire global GDP,” Dr. Mwangi stated, underscoring the formidable economic power wielded by private enterprises.

He positioned Africa as the “continent of opportunities,” citing its youthful and rapidly expanding population.

“One out of three by the turn of the century will be living in Africa,” Dr. Mwangi said adding that by 2050, “two of every three working population will be a young person from Africa.”

This demographic shift, he noted, will not only provide a massive labor force but also a substantial market with increasing “disposable income.”

Beyond human capital, Dr. Mwangi highlighted Africa’s rich natural endowments, including “65% of arable land” and “62% of all renewable energy that is exploited.”

He advised investors to “make early decisions and take a position before it becomes too competitive,” stressing that a “transformed Africa is a sustainable world.”

Equity Group’s role, he affirmed, is to “facilitate you… to open doors for you,” encouraging a shift towards “partnership and collaboration” to provide solutions to global challenges.

Echoing this sentiment, James Nyabanda, Equity Kenya Managing Director, warmly welcomed the delegates to “the home of Equity” and, more importantly, “the home of entrepreneurs.”

He underscored Kenya’s strategic importance as a gateway to the East African market.

“Over the next couple of days, we are looking to take you on real roadshows to see opportunities that are available in Kenya,” Nyabanda said.

He emphasized that the bank has established a “premier platform to enable us to connect businesses,” facilitating connections between Kenyan enterprises and international investors.

Nyabanda highlighted the sheer scale of the opportunity, noting that the East African market alone boasts “500 million individuals.” He encouraged attendees to take “full advantage” of the unique platform provided by the roadshow.

“It’s not just centered towards Kenya, but what Kenya and its neighbors are able to offer,” he said, inviting investors to join Equity in exploring and investing in the region’s dynamic economic landscape.

The roadshow aims to foster strong partnerships and build trust between international investors and local businesses, ultimately driving sustainable growth and development across the continent.

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Karakuta Fresh Produce has commissioned a 7,500 tonnes packhouse for grading and packing avocados grown on its 180 acres of farm and aggregated collection from 1,500 farmers.

The packhouse was unveiled in Nairobi by Equity Group Managing Director and CEO Dr James Mwangi and the Karakuta CEO Grace Ngungi in a celebratory occasion graced by Spanish Embassy’s Economic and Commercial Office Market Analyst Enrique Alvarez and officials from government agencies and avocado value chain associations.

“I am truly honoured to be invited to the commissioning of the Karakuta packhouse that is a reality now not only because of visionary leadership but also the bold step taken by the company to transform Kenya’s Agricultural value chain. This is evidence that Grace is a serious investor. This is a demonstration for us in Kenya and Africa in general that dreams can be made to come true,” said Dr Mwangi, thanking Karakuta CEO and her family for realizing aspirations through partnerships with Equity for financing, Israel for the packing plant and Spain for the market that absorbs the bulk of Karakuta produce. The packing machine financed by Equity is one of the 52 in Kenya, 48 of which are Eshel Eilon imported from Israel.

A Director at the Horticultural Crops Directorate Dr Christine Chesaro asked the subsector to seek emerging markets that are looking for volumes but also want consistency of quantity and quality.

“Some of the challenges we have are meeting quality consistently and having a machine like Karakuta ensure quality is not compromised,” she said.

Avocado Exporters Association of Kenya Chief Executive Officer Joseph Wagurah reiterated the similar sentiments saying 70% of the fruit is grown by smallholder farmers making it difficult to maintain quality required by markets.

“These farmers should be in groups which are easier to manage on agreeing on when to plant, when to spray and how much to ensure our produce doesn’t exceed specified maximum residue levels, MRLs.”

The Karakuta CEO narrated how she took a step of faith to play in a male-dominated space, expecting to see quantum impact in spite of the challenges in the sub-sector. “I wanted to be in a space where I could start as a small holder fruits farmer and scale up to be in the avocado subsector. Back then Kenya was struggling with being the largest producer of avocados but not exporting much. That prompted me to establish a model farm as a starting point to address issues of consistency, quality and working seamlessly with small holder farmers,” she said.

Today Karakuta has established an ecosystem of thousands of avocado farmers in Kiambu, Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Meru who work with aggregators to deliver their produce marketed for onward transmission to export markets.

“The aggregators have built an infrastructure through social capital for trust to ensure farmers don’t lack inputs for their produce to meet market quality and quantity,” she said adding that the facility financed by Equity is not a mere facility but a platform for transformation of the thousands of people who depend on the packhouse for their livelihood.

“Equity trusted and believed in us. When farmers come and see the facility, in operations they realise it not only belongs to Karakuta but to them too. We are grateful for this that enables us to give higher quality or better prices. in the markets abroad buyers are competing for us. We are glad that we represent the industrialization that Kenya needs and what Africa requires,” said the Karakuta CEO.

Dr Mwangi noted that like Equity the company has grown by leaps and bounds, having produced 8 containers of avocados in its first year of harvest and jumping to 18 containers the following year. It projects to more than triple the throughput to 60 containers in 2025.

“The growth of Karakuta echoes Equity that is a creation of people to better their lives. Its purpose is transforming lives, giving dignity and expanding opportunities for wealth creation. I came here so that Grace can be appreciated as an example to other women to see that women are bankable.”

Dr Mwangi further highlighted the need for the agricultural sector to focus on value-addition beyond addition to production within the value chain saying that is the reason Equity’s Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan, ARRP envisions to increase lending to increase food and agriculture loan mix to 30% coupling that with manufacturing and logistics loan mix to 15%.

“In 2018 we had 3% of the loan book dedicated to agriculture. Now it is 16% illustrating that Equity has embarked on a journey not just to boost production but value addition because value addition often has more value than the product itself. With machinery such as this (in Karakuta) we can improve agriculture and transform lives and livelihoods. We have walked on this journey with Karakuta and this demonstrates to Kenyans that we can walk with them too,” he said.

Equity MD hailed Karakuta for solving a problem of quality and reliability which is what export markets desire. “We take pride in the entrepreneurship that shows you can dream big and scale quick. We create value by solving problems. The Karakuta story shows if ambition is paired with support anything and everything is possible. Grace shows how dreams look when pursued with strategic collaboration and strategy,” said Dr Mwangi.

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Members of parliament have summoned Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi over an alleged Ksh15 billion loan to Deputy President William Ruto Turkish associate Harun Aydin.

According to the letter addressed to Mwangi by Homa Bay Woman MP Gladys Wanga-led National Assembly Committee on Finance and Planning, he is supposed to appear before it on Wednesday.

He is set to shed light on the loan allegedly given to the Turk who was deported after being linked to terror and money laundering activities.

Ruto claimed that he made a phone call to Equity Bank to facilitate the loan for Mr Aydin to set up a vaccine manufacturing plant in Uganda.

“The purpose of this letter is to invite you to a meeting with the committee scheduled for August 25 in the mini-chamber,” reads a letter by the committee.

The MPs will be seeking to know whether the bank adhered to section 43 of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-money Laundering Act while advancing the loan to Mr Aydin.

Also, the committee will seek understanding onwhether Mr Aydin holds or operates any accounts with Equity Bank and the particulars on the security used to guarantee the Ksh15 billion credit.

During his arrest, Aydin was in the company of a Ugandan businessman, Paul Bamutaze, who was also arrested and later deported to Kampala by road.

Bamutaze has apparently filed a case at the East African Court of Justice over remarks by ODM politicians against Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).

Ruto claimed that Aydin was a victim of bad politics and not a terrorist.

He alluded that the businessman, who has a valid Kenyan work permit, was being frustrated by top government officials over links with him.

Harun was among businessmen and politicians who were scheduled to travel with Ruto in an aborted private trip to Uganda.

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