Respite for British couple in property row with a lawyer John Ohaga

A British couple who were involved in an ownership
dispute with a senior city lawyer and his family members were granted a
reprieve after a high court invalidated an eviction order and allowed them to
return to their home.

Following a magistrate court order, Mr. Adrian James
Radcliff and his wife Carolyne were violently evicted from their Karen Home in
Nairobi, which they had occupied for 33 years.

Karen police officers and Jephys Auctioneer took all
of the household goods and demolished the house during the eviction.

“Now that the house where petitioner and his
family were living has been demolished, Mr. Radcliffe must decide how he wants
to keep possession of the property until the proprietorship issue is resolved.”
“It is up to him to decide whether to put a tent or a mobile home on the
land,” Justice Oscar Angote said in quashing the eviction order.

Despite having occupied the contested land since
August 1, 1989, the petitioner and his wife are currently staying with friends
as a result of their eviction.

Senior counsel and managing partner of TripleOKlaw
Advocates John Ohaga, his wife, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law are at the
center of a long-running ownership dispute in which the Britons accuse of
defrauding them of the 5.7 acres.

The lawyer Mr  Ohaga represented the couple in a court
seeking adverse possession of the property, but Mr Radcliffe claims the lawyer
worked against them to get the ks 500 million property with his family.

The property was claimed by Kena Properties, whose directors
include Mr Ohaga’s wife Carolla Ohaga, her sister Jean Kamau, and her
mother-in-law Leah Ngini.

Following that, Kena Properties used the land title,
which the Britons claimed was a forgery, to obtain a Sh 40 million loan from
Prime Bank. The company claims to have paid Sh 135 million for the property.

Mr. Radcliffe has named Kena Properties as the
petition’s first respondent, while Mr. Ohaga is the petition’s fifth
respondent. The suit is being pursued by Prime Bank and Jephys Auctioneer.

Mr Ohaga confirmed that Kena Properties was a client
of the TrippleOKla-wAdvocates in his replying affidavit. Mr. Radcliffe and his
wife Carolyne were also known to him as their daughter Katie, and “my
daughter went to the same school and was close friends” with them, he told
the court.

Mr. Radcliffe, 60, arrived in Kenya in 1984 to
complete his master’s thesis and moved into the property as a tenant thanks to
Donald Vincent Ltd, a land agent.

Although Donald Vincent Ltd was not the registered
owner, had promised to introduce him to John Cecil Ball (now deceased) the
owner.

He claimed he had paid all land rates due to city
authorities over the years, as well as responding to Nairobi County demand
notices.

Mr Radcliffe received a letter from John Cecil Ball in
1992 regarding unpaid land rates totaling sh 120,000, which he claimed he had
paid in full. Mr. Ball passed away in 2012, and his wife Daphne Ball died in
2019.

The couple filed for adverse possession of the land in
2005 through Sheila & Sheikh and Company advocates, but the case was
dismissed.

He later hired Mr Ohaga to help him with the case, and
the lawyer advised him not to appeal the court’s decision.

Mr Ohaga began acting against the petitioner’s
interests in the property at some point, the petitioner told Justice Angote. Mr
Ohaga, on the other hand, called the petitioner a liar in a replying affidavit.

In September 2014, Mr. Radcliffe received a letter
from Ohaga informing him that the property had been sold to an unnamed buyer.

On May 24, 2016, Mr Radcliffe demanded payment of his
monthly rent after sending him a tenancy agreement.