The AGM ended successfully and I was a happy man. After all members of the Sacco had given us the go ahead to procure a property for the organisation with a generous budget to go with the same. The officials were happy as the decision would leave a legacy that would make the Sacco to always remember our wise contribution. The property had been identified at a good prize and the ailing proprietor was ready for a quick transaction that would help his family offset rising medical bills. All of us agreed that South B shopping Centre Nairobi is a good location and our in-house personnel had done a good job in certifying the ownership documentations given to us. this is until the secretary requested to get a second opinion from a real estate professional she had worked with.

We decided to consult Rubyland Limited and gave them the Title documentations to scrutinise though we were not worried since we had done our part of due diligence. It turned out that, what we were not aware is that one page of the RLA Title document was deliberately missing and this came as a surprise to us. We were later to realise that the property was jointly owned between several individuals and had several caveats from people claiming ownership. The scheme involved several players and there was no way we were to know about it unless we reduced our transaction speed and involved a professional. The transaction was to end within three months but we are grateful that we involved Rubyland in carrying out an independent due diligence on the property. This decision saved us some Kshs. 64 Million without considering the transaction charges that were to be incurred.

Mr. Ngunjiri

Chairman – Lampasago Sacco

NAIROBI – KENYA

2012