Obama Kin in Land Tussle In Malindi

By The COAST Reporter

Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com

Former US President Barack Obama’s half-sister is embroiled in a land ownership dispute with a German national along the Kenya’s coastline settlement scheme in Kilifi County.

Rita Auma Obama, who is indicated as sole owner of a 3.2-acre beach plot in Kilifi’s Lands Registry, is being challenged by a German owned real estate company, Carina Properties Limited.

The widow, Karin Gansfort, has threatened a court action after the Lands Ministry expunged her company from the land registry’s green card in favour of Rita without following due process.

According to her, she reported the matter to Watamu’s directorate of criminal investigations where recorded several statements that runs to 2018 due to consistent transfer of officers handling the case. She is worried, that way, justice may not be meted out through DCI.

“I acquired this parcel of land after Peter Ngunje, a Watamu based contractor and real estate developer, sold his shares of Carina Properties that owned the beach plot,” she told journalists at the property.

But to her consternation she discovered that the land had been “illegally and irregularly” transferred to Rita forcing her to conduct a search at the Registry in Kilifi wondering how it could happen without her involvement.

DCI INVESTIGATIONS
That prompted her to report the issue to the DCI to investigate the circumstances of expunging the lands record but to date she is yet to make tangible progress in resolving it.

“I have had to record three statements on the matter following the transfers of the officers and I do not believe I will get justice.”

Flanking the German national, Ngunje alleged Carina Properties bought the land from Lilian Uchi and Ndarewa Munyesi in 2007 and was issued with a title deed on July 23, 2007.

To his surprise in 2018 he discovered that the land register green card had been altered and its name expunged and replaced by that of Lois Wambui Thuo and Auma Rita Obama.
“On discovering that, we immediately took action of reporting to the DCI in Watamu for investigations but we have ended up recording new statements after another occasioned by officers’ transfers to other stations,” he added.
Land records availed to Coast Media indicate that the parcel of land under dispute was initially owned by the government before being allocated to Lilian Uchi and Ndarewa Muyesi from a title deed issued on November 6, 2002.
Then, the plot changed hands from the new owners to Carina Properties Limited, which was issued with another title deed on July 23, 2007.
But both the initial owners – Uchi and Muyeshi – and Carina properties Limited were expunged from the land register on December 13, 2016 vide a letter from the Chief Lands Registrar dated December 1, 2016.

**Ms Karin Gansfort addressing Media at the disputed Kilifi/Jimba 347 Beach plot (Photo By The Coast Reporter)**

GREEN CARD
The green card indicates (in hand-written entry 7) that title deed number 1476827 was issued to Lois Wambui Thuo and Auma Rita Obama on December 12, 2016 before the land became the sole property of Rita on July 6, 2020.

However, the records do not indicate from whom did Lois and Rita acquired the parcel of land and the matter has been the subject of investigations at Watamu DCI office since 2019.

The documents at hand indicate Kilifi County Land Registrar acted on instructions from then chief Lands registrar to expunge the records after principal land adjudication and settlement officer Peter K. Waithaka instructed for the changes.
Then, county lands registrar Joseph T. Bao, had declined to grant a request to register certain documents provided by then director of lands adjudication and settlement since there was an active land register (green card).
In a letter dated November 21, 2016, Bao said in part: “We are unable to register (the) documents. This is because there is an old active land register (green card) with various transactions. Attached please find a certified copy of the same for your information and advice.”
On November 30 of the same year, Waithaka wrote an internal memo to the chief lands registrar asking the registrar to instruct the county lands registrar, Kilifi, to expunge Carina Properties Limited from the records, after introducing new original allottees.
“The said plot was originally allocated to Anderson Nyundo Thoya (former Watamu Councillor) and Daniel Kazungu Kombe, who in turn sold it to Lois Wambui Thuo and Auma Rita Obama.
“Carina Properties Limited are therefore not known to this office and you are requested to instruct the County Lands Registrar, Kilifi, to expunge the same from the records,” the memo said.
According to Waithaka genuine records of change and transfer had been forwarded to the Kilifi registrar vide a letter from his office dated November 18, 2016.
“Kindly have the said documents effected in favour of the current owners,” his memo said. The green card does not have any record of Anderson Nyundo Thoya (former Councillor) and Daniel Kazungu Kombe.

ORIGINAL ALLOTTEES

However, a letter dated November 28, 2016 from the then district land adjudication and settlement Officer James G. Kamau that was addressed to the director of lands adjudication and settlement indicates the duo as the original allottees.
“From our records, the plot was allocated to Anderson Nyundo Thoya and Daniel Kazungu and later transferred to Lois Wambui Thuo and Auma Rita Obama,” the letter said in part. Investigations of the dispute discloses that Carina Properties Limited had been paying rates for parcel of land up to 2018 when it was transferred to its current owner, Rita.
Contacted on her mobile phone number 0724048491, the Barack Obama’s sister confirmed that she has a land dispute in Watamu and referred journalists to her lawyer, Maurice Kilonzo.
When contacted for comments, Kilonzo said he was representing Rita on a different land matter – a boundary dispute between her on Plot Number Kilifi/Jimba 347 (the disputed land) and the owner of plot number Kilifi/Jimba 346, which he said had already been resolved.