Real Estate firm Jabavu Village Ltd denies reports it used public land title deed to secure KSh.1.9B loan

Jabavu Village Ltd Managing Director Abdulkadir A. Hussein detailed circumstances under which the firm was awarded the contract to build Affordable Housing units in Nairobi's Jeevanjee Housing Estate in Ngara, and how Jabavu Village Ltd secured the said loan to facilitate the construction of the units. 

"The Jeevanjee land was originally owned by the Nairobi City Council but was legally transferred to the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created for the project: Nairobi Bachelors Jeevanjee Estate Limited on July 25, 2019. Upon transfer to the SPV, Jabavu Village Ltd currently holds 80% shares and the Nairobi City County Government 20%," Hussein said.

"Since the title is transferred to the SPV, where Jabavu Village Ltd is 80% shareholder and the NCCG 20%, it cannot be said to be public land as such. The higher shareholding of Jabavu Village Ltd in the SPV is because we had invested funds in the development.

According to the agreement, the county was to provide land while the firms were to source for funds to invest in the project as part of the joint venture.

"The total banking facility is Ksh.1.9 billion, and Jabavu Village has drawn down Ksh.450 million so far against work certificates. Payments are done directly to the contractors and supporting consultants," Hussein further said. 

On claims that the Jeevanjee Housing project has stalled despite securing the loan, Hussein said construction work on the housing units is 50% done, and that it stopped temporary due to factors ranging from the Covid 19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine. 

"The project was affected by the Corona period to the extent of 2 years, a period through which it was almost impossible to get casual workers due to restrictions on movement. The election period also negatively affected implementation as the Chinese contractors were reduced significantly due to electoral process uncertainties. The effect of the Ukraine war also had a very adverse effect due the steep rises in material prices necessitating a renegotiating of contract rates which took 9 months to resolve," he further said. 

The Nairobi Bachelors Jeevanjee Estate Limited project is part of the Nairobi Regeneration and Urban Renewal Programme. In the programme, the Nairobi County set to undertake construction of 100,000 new housing units in existing old public housing estates under the County Comprehensive Urban Renewal Programme (ECURP).

The expected 100,000 new housing units were expected to house approximately 650,000 residents.

In 2018, the Nairobi City County Government reached an agreement with eight companies for construction of the  houses in seven city estates; Old and New Ngara, Pangani, Jeevanjee(Bachelors), Ngong Road Inspectorate Staff Quarters, Uhuru and Suna Road.

Approximately 14,000 housing units will be developed in these areas.