Details have emerged of how Kenya’s international footballer Michael Olunga almost lost Sh67 million in a land deal.
In a suit filed at the Miimani Law courts in Nairobi, the Harambee stars captain and his girlfriend Grace Edith Akinyi had sued Captain Real Estate Company for allegedly refusing to hand over the commercial land in Nairobi and allegedly selling it to a third party after he paid the agreed purchase price of Sh67,292,500.
“The company refused to honour its end of the bargain to affect the transfer of the property to Grace Akinyi and myself. They have been consistently treating us to false promises, only to realise that they had advertised the property on social media sites and sold it to a third party,” said Olunga.
The footballer swore in his affidavit that he entered a contract alongside his girlfriend with Captain Real Estate Company in April 2022 for the purchase of the plot in Nairobi identified as LR No3734/423.
After signing the sale agreement, Olunga told the court that he proceeded to make deposits to the company’s bank account at Nairobi Riverside Platinum Branch in varied installments until he completed the full agreed purchase price in September 2022.
But after making the final payment, Olunga said the company refused to honour its end of the bargain of affecting the transfer to the couple and instead started making false promises.
Olunga said through his lawyers, he wrote a demand letter to the company to either hand over the property or refund the cash.
“Despite the demand to reimburse back our money or transfer the property to us, the company consistently started treating us to promises and counter promises without any action,” swore Olunga.
The 28-year-old striker said instead of handing over the property or returning the money, the company called their lawyer on October 30, 2022, for a meeting, where they informed him of their intention to sell the property to a third party.
He said they were surprised when they saw the company advertising the same parcel of land to potential buyers in November 2022.
“Our advocate then wrote to the company asking for a refund but they did nothing. They were notoriously enjoying possession of our money and using the property at our expense,” Olunga swore.
The footballer said the prolonged refusal by the company to transfer the property or refund the money forced them to move to court in February in a bid to preserve the land so they don’t end up losing everything.
Their lawyer Elvis Majani argued that Captain Real Estate Company breached the contract they entered and should be stopped from selling the land to third parties or compelled to refund the money plus interest accrued for the period they had it.
“The company breached the contract by failing to complete the transfer of the property after accepting considerable money from Olunga with the knowledge that they were not intending to transfer the said property after being paid,” said Majani.
When the matter came up before Justice Alfred Mabeya at the Milimani High Court on March 1, the parties informed the judge that they had reached an agreement to settle the dispute out of court.
“Since the parties in the dispute have informed the court that they have reached an agreement and filed a consent to settle the dispute, the case will be marked as settled and withdrawn from court. Their consent dated February 27, 2023, settling the dispute will be adopted as an order of this court,” Justice Mabeya ruled.
Details of the agreement were not included in the court files but lawyers representing both parties confirmed that they had reached an agreement to settle the matter.
