Serious deficiencies in the land sector manifested on Tuesday at Nyamage village in Kisii when an elderly man accused a private developer of forcing him to surrender a land title deed without full payments.
Alex Omboga, 66, claimed that Willis Abuga had reached an agreement with him to pay Sh600,000 for 0.25 hectares of land that was to be paid before the owner surrendered his title deed for fresh registration.
However, the accused reportedly paid only half of the money and took advantage of the complainant’s illiteracy to blackmail him.
According to Mr Omboga, he received Sh300,000 on February 27, 2015 through an intermediary whom he recognised as a Mr Livondo.
“I never went to school so it was difficult for me to know how much I had received. I have no family and it was difficult for me to involve a stranger in the transactions. He (Mr Abuga) opened an account for me at Equity Bank - Kisii in the presence of Livindo and deposited the amount,” he said.
“The transaction was done so quickly to an extent that I was taken to the Land registry in Kisii to help him change the title deed. I only realised that I was blackmailed when I went to withdraw the cash,” he added.
However, Mr Abuga, who spent most of his time at his newly acquired land, dismissed the allegations as ‘unfounded’ since they had not agreed on the aforementioned fee.
“I am not a conman and so whatever he found in the bank is what we had agreed. I am very ready to face him in the court,” he said.