A section of Lesedi Group alias Lesedi Developers clients staged a protest at their offices in Thika carrying placards written “Fraud”.
They demanded the company refund their monies or give them their title deeds.
“Mtu unajinyima upate ploti, lakini hakuna ploti inakuja. Hii ni mwaka imenda, so sisi tukakukwa wazuri tukaenda kwa Lesedi tukawaambia wakuje mkutano; wakatuita mkutano ya kwanza wakatupiga PR. Wakatuambia withing two weeks, tutakuwa tumepatiwa title (deed). Na hawa members karibu wote walikuwa kwa hiyo mkutano. Mkutano ya pili, tukawaambia juu ya Elkections, tutawapea two months. Haya majamaa wakaenda, after two months, majamaa kwa ile group waliunda hakuna update inakuja. We are so desperate and we are really hoping that, these guys will be brought to book,” a client of Lesedi Developers said.
Another client demanded that they be refunded their monies or be given their title deeds.
“Shamba tulipelekwa tukaona, tulibebwa na basi tukaona. Nilichukua loan kwa bank nikaanza kulipa. Kama shamba haiwezi patika, sisi tuko sawa tunaweza rudishiwa pesa zetu ili tujipange pahali pengine”, a client said.
In November 2022, the developer was ordered to refund a client, Ryan Marvin Karanja, Sh1.5 million for misleading information and breaching an agreement on the sale of land in Juja, Kiambu County.
That was not the first time.
In 2021, Dennis Kikuvi and his wife, Bernadette Wanjiru Kamau, bought land allegedly measuring 40 by 80 feet from the company in Juja for Sh600,000.
Investors storm Lesedi Developers Office after ‘Hot Air' sale
Shouts, 'scammers', rented the air.
Video courtesy of K24TV pic.twitter.com/RArt8wYbMo
— Umoja News (@UmojaNews_) January 7, 2023
The couple hoped to settle on the land with their young family.
But before starting to build a permanent residential house, they approached a planner to see whether their house design would fit the land.
The planner told Mr Kikuvi that the couple had been duped and that the actual size of the land was 40 by 60 feet.
Mr Kikuvi’s woes worsened when, weeks later, he visited the land and found another buyer, identified as Ms Maureen Wanjiru, developing the land and claiming it had also been sold to her.
Frustrated, Mr Kikuvi asked his lawyer to ask for a full refund after Lesedi Developers suggested that they would deduct 20 percent from the Sh600,000 he had paid for the land.
The lawyer wrote to the Lesedi Developers CEO last year.
“It is our clients’ view that the contract was based on fraud and misrepresentation from your end hence the same is nullity,” the demand letter said.
“Our clients have now instructed us to write to you and demand your immediate return of the entire purchase price and our collection fees of Sh30,000.”
Under pressure, Lesedi Developers recently refunded the couple Sh600,000 after a long row.
Lesedi Developers is also embroiled in similar disputes with other customers in the Thika Environment and Land Court.
Lesedi Developers is owned by Geoffrey Kiragu, its founder and managing director.