In the wake of the 2017 General elections, over 500 members of the Muhatetu farmers who owned Kedong Ranch were invited to collect cheques, after being locked out of an AGM for five good years.
Little did they know that behind closed doors a dirty scheme was going on, that would see them lose ownership of the ranch.
Behind closed doors, directors had decided to sell their 40.66 shares in the 75,000 acres’ ranch soon after it emerged that the standard gauge railway would be traversing the property.
This writer understands that their shares were sold for Ksh2.1 billion to a third party without their knowledge. Each received Ksh400,000 on August 2, 2017, before the shares were officially transferred on August 23, 2017.
The chairman of the farmers was one Cyrus Munuhe Mwaniki, the father of Mwaniki Munuhe, former standard newspaper reporter who has now turned into a billionaire within two years.
The shares were sold to Newell holdings Limited, which is owned by Stanley Kinyanjui, Rahab Mungai of Lake Naivasha Resort. The two who are little known hold these shares on behalf of Mwaniki Munuhe and CS James Macharia, this writer understands.
This deal was put together by Mwaniki Munuhe, his father and CS Macharia illegally, prompting a court case that was thrown out by the court in 2018.
The farmers claimed that the directors disregarded their long standing guideline that any sale of shares were to be first offered to members before a third party was invited to buy.
“We pray that the Senate probes whether there is a conspiracy to dispossess shareholders of Muhotetu Farmers Company of their shares and thus ensure they are locked out of the compensation by the government when it compulsorily acquires land for the dry port and the SGR,” the farmers pleaded with the Senate before the Court case collapsed in 2018.
With all avenues now closed and the collapse of the court case, this meant that the farmers would lose government compensation to shareholders of Kedong Ranch because SGR passes through the land. The biggest beneficiary of course being Newell holdings, which now held 40.66 percent of the shares.
“Land next, near and covering the surrounding to the Naivasha dry port which has been or is being developed into rental houses, hotels, lodgings, shops, petrol stations etc that was also bought by Cs Macharia through Mwaniki Munuhe and his father to service all manner of needs of the dry port users, says a source privy to the going ons, who sought anonymity.
Among other shareholders of the Ranch include Beth Mugo, the late JM Kariuki and Margret Wambui Kenyatta among others.
The government through Macharia has ordered that cargo will now be transported to Naivasha through SGR for clearance, a move that will make the dry port a hive of activity that will benefit his new venture.
Mwaniki Munuhe was pushed out of the Standard Group after he was named in the infamous NYS saga by Josephine Kabura as being one of two media gurus she was introduced to by then Devolution CS Ann Waiguru.
In the affidavit signed by Ms Josephine Maina, CS Waiguru is recorded as having named Kamore as one of two ‘media gurus’ she used for propaganda, the other being Standard’s Munuhe Mwaniki. Ms Kabura stated that she met the two journalists and Waiguru told her to give Sh10 million to Munuhe.
Most of the media stories that implicated the senior scribe have been pulled down from the internet, thanks to his financial muscle.
Mwaniki is said to have bought four houses in Kencom estate next to Brookhouse Runda Campus at Ksh37 million each on a cash basis.
“He also owns three blocks of apartments in Thindigua also bought cash. He also owns Dove Cage Hotel on Mokhtar Dada street, Mercury Lounge in ABC Place Westlands, and currently developing a Ksh800 million hotel in Rumuruti where he comes from. The contractor on site for the hotel Chinese construction company known as Hunan Contractors,” reads the letter in part.
He also owns brand new 2018 showroom cars; Porsche Cayenne, Land Rover Discovery, Jaguar, Mercedes 5500, BMW 5 series, Ford Sedan and a Mercedes E250.
Mwaniki Munuhe is said to be Transport CS Macharia’s proxy for all the big tenders such as the Nakuru Mau Summit road worth Ksh160 billion won by a French consortium. Mwaniki was in France late last year and this year twice because of that tender, Kahawa Tungu learns.
Muhuhe is also said to be the proxy for CS Macharia in the proposed Nairobi expressway road being done by CRBC.
Mwaniki is also said to be having offshore accounts in Dubai and Mauritius that Irene Nanayu, Macharia’s PA and Macharia’s supposed kickbacks recipient operates.
In bank details, Vinci, China Communications Construction, CRBC and other Chinese Companies using proxies, have been making suspicious deposits to Mwaniki’s offshore accounts.
Mwaniki was also involved in the botched mobile clinic project that was the Ksh5 billion Afya House scandal. The mobile clinics were imported by Estama Investment Limited owned by Njage Makanga, the husband to Irene who is CS Macharia’s PA. Macharia was the CS for Ministry of Health when this mobile clinics were procured and Mwaniki is the one who hides and invests kickback money for Irene, Macharia and Makanga, it is alleged.
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