Governor had lodged suit seeking to divide property acquired during his first marriage with Josephine Thitu
The two got married on July 1, 2000 but parted ways over irreconcilable differences on August 19, 2015
A High Court judge has slammed the brakes on Governor Alfred Mutua’s attempt to claim a stake in multi-million shillings worth of property he had surrendered to his former wife, Josephine Thitu.
Justice William Musyoka not only dismissed the suit that Dr Mutua had lodged seeking division of the property acquired during their marriage, but also condemned him to pay his former flame costs of the suit.
In a ruling in favour of Ms Thitu, a pharmacist, the judge declared that the contested issues had been resolved in a different suit.
The two got married on July 1, 2000 but parted ways over irreconcilable differences on August 19, 2015. Court records indicate that their divorce was settled thousands of miles away in Australia.
“A court cannot try the issues raised in this cause without having to determine the same points of law that were conclusively settled by the court in HCJSC No 45 of 2014. Consequently, I shall uphold the objection and strike out the suit herein, with costs to the defendant,” the judge ruled.
Expansive properties
Although the other suit (HCJSC No 45 of 2014) touched on separation between the two, it ended up being a battle for the assets.
At the centre of the dispute between the Machakos governor and his former wife are expansive properties straddling the three Ukambani counties of Machakos, Kitui and Makueni.
They include plots in Mavoko town, Iveti Hills, Kamulu in the outskirts of Nairobi, a plot in Malili and three others in Simisi/Ilamba in Kitui.
It also includes their matrimonial home, only indicated as LR No 7158/32 (IR No 108085/1) and which Thitu claims Dr Mutua transferred to her after he fled the home in 2013, the same year he was elected governor.
The judge said there were orders made with respect to some assets, including the matrimonial property.
“It was ordered that for LR No 7158/32 (IR No 108085/1), both parties have equal rights to it, and any transfer or division thereof would be by consent and agreement of the parties or after determination of the status of the marriage or separation of the parties,” the judge said.
After a review by same court, the judge said, it was ordered that LR No 7158/32 (IR No 108085/1), Mavoko Town Block 3/3161 and Mavoko Town Block 3/3162, remain in the exclusive ownership of Thitu.
Yesterday, Justice Musyoka found that the claims pleaded in that suit were different but the court settled on the issue of the property too.
He noted that some of the applications filed brought the issue of the assets to the centre of the separation dispute, leading the court to make findings that effectively rendered the issues now being raised legally moot.
Justice Musyoka added that although Dr Mutua had served a notice of appeal against the separation judgment, he did not produce evidence that he had pursued it. When Dr Mutua filed the suit seeking division of the pieces of property, Thitu objected arguing that they had struck a deal on sharing the property upon divorce.
She argued that the court had no powers to determine the issue of sharing the matrimonial property as the issue had already been overtaken by events.
According to Thitu, her former husband transferred five pieces of property to her when he left their matrimonial home in 2013 and the court later ordered that he should also transfer two others in Mavoko.
She claimed that she was holding the two assets in trust of their children.
“The rest of the assets were retained by the plaintiff. The court has no jurisdiction to entertain the suit as the property was divided upon breakdown of the parties’ marriage,” she argued.
Source-standardmedia.co.ke
Governor Mutua losses matrimonial property war against his former wife Josephine Thitu
