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UK’s Highest Court Rejects Steve Mwagiru’s Final Tatu City Ownership Claims
Privy Council Ends 15-Year Legal Battle
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the UK’s highest court of appeal, has dismissed two cases filed by Kenyan businessman Steve Mwagiru. The ruling ends more than 15 years of legal disputes linked to ownership claims over Tatu City.
Five UK Supreme Court justices presided over the matter. They described Mwagiru’s legal arguments as “entirely misconceived” after he repeatedly challenged earlier decisions in Mauritius.
The Privy Council sits in London and serves as Mauritius’ highest court of appeal. Mwagiru had claimed to hold shares in a company linked to Tatu City through entities registered in Mauritius.
The decision marks another setback for Mwagiru, eight years after the London Court of International Arbitration ruled against him, Bidco Africa Chairman Vimal Shah and former Central Bank of Kenya Governor Nahashon Nyagah.
The arbitration tribunal ordered the three men to pay more than USD 20 million to Rendeavour, the owner and developer of Tatu City. The tribunal found that they had defrauded the company.
To date, Rendeavour says none of the three has paid the award.
Origins of the Dispute
The dispute dates back to 2008 and 2010 when Rendeavour acquired the land that later became Tatu City and the surrounding coffee farms.
At the time, Shah, Nyagah and Mwagiru proposed joining the development as co-investors. However, they failed to raise the required capital. Rendeavour later arranged an USD 11 million loan to support the transaction.
According to Rendeavour, relations deteriorated soon after. The company claims the three men launched a series of legal actions aimed at frustrating the development and forcing foreign investors out of the project.
Stephen Jennings, Founder and CEO of Rendeavour, welcomed the ruling.
“Steve Mwagiru, Vimal Shah and Nahashon Nyagah have played different roles at different times in this matter, but their modus operandi has been consistent: they have sought to intimidate and extort foreign investors,” said Jennings.
“They thought we would panic and pay up. Yet we had unshakeable belief that the law would be applied to the facts. It has taken longer than we expected, but we are delighted that these flawed appeals have now been robustly rejected.”
Despite the lengthy legal battles, Rendeavour continued developing Tatu City.
Today, the mixed-use Special Economic Zone hosts more than 110 businesses and thousands of residents. The development has created over 30,000 jobs and attracted billions of shillings in investment from international shareholders based in New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway.
More than 50 leading Kenyan companies now operate from Tatu City.
Over the years, Rendeavour publicly challenged what it described as fraudulent actions by Mwagiru, Shah and Nyagah.
Jennings held several public forums detailing allegations against the trio. He accused them of filing a failed petition in Parliament and attempting to alter company ownership records through forged registry documents.
The 2018 arbitration centred on Manhattan Coffee Incorporated Holding, a Mauritius-registered company linked to the three men.
According to the tribunal, they falsely claimed to have paid a USD 20 million deposit towards land that later formed part of Tatu City.
The arbitrator found that no such deposit had been paid. The ruling stated that the false representation negatively affected Rendeavour’s investment strategy.
In the written award, the arbitrator also questioned parts of Shah’s testimony, describing it as inconsistent with documentary evidence.
Following the arbitration ruling, Shah told the Financial Times in 2018 that he would not comply with the award.
As a result, Rendeavour pursued recognition and enforcement proceedings in Mauritius.
Mauritius, Kenya and the United Kingdom are all signatories to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. The convention allows courts to recognise and enforce valid awards issued in other member states.
Mauritian courts quickly recognised the USD 20 million award. However, enforcement proceedings continued for several years before reaching a final conclusion.
UK’s Highest Court Rejects Steve Mwagiru’s Final Tatu City Ownership Claims
Another Court Defeat in Kenya
Mwagiru also faced a separate legal setback in Kenya.
In 2024, High Court Judge Arsenath Ongeri dismissed his third attempt to regain membership at Muthaiga Country Club.
The club terminated his membership in 2012 after an incident in which he allegedly urinated in the members’ bar and physically assaulted and verbally abused staff.
The ruling brought another long-running legal dispute involving Mwagiru to a close.
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