Urithi Housing Cooperative Society Limited over the weekend issued 86 title deeds to members of its flagship Panorama Gardens gated community project located in Thika as efforts to revive stalled projects take shape.
The 86 are part of 200 title deeds that are currently being processed by the society through the Ministry of Lands, Urithi chairman, Samuel Maina told investors during the handover ceremony on Saturday.
These are part of the about 540 parcels on the serene, 104-acre land located along Gatanga Road, 6km from Blue Post Hotel next to Bahati Ridges and Golden Pearl Estate.
The issuance of title deeds follows collaboration between the members of the project, the Cooperative Society and Family Bank after the bank threatened to auction the land in 2019 over a Ksh 315 million debt. The mother title for the land was the security on the loan facility.
Maina said the exercise was a culmination of a lot of hard work. “We want to assure our members that Urithi is coming back in a big way. We have already resuscitated many of our stalled projects. We have every intention of reviving all our stalled projects so that in the next few years, we will be bigger and better company,” he said.
Members of the buyers’ welfare association named Panorama Gardens Residents Association (PGRA) formed by a section of investors who have been working to pay off the negotiated top-up fees to save their plots from auction, were a happy lot.
“This is a day of triumph, fulfillment and most importantly, a day of collective achievement. We gather here not as individuals but as a community that has weathered storms, crossed deserts, and climbed mountains. And now, we stand on the pinnacle of success, holding in our hands not just titles but tangible proof of our resilience, unity, and vision,” said Hilary Maingi Mbute, the Chairman of the association.
Maina said in the last two years, Urithi has revived and completed nearly 40 projects from the Covid-19 crisis up to date. Another 36 projects are set to be completed in the next one year.
The housing society has been battling negative publicity that befell the organization beginning 2019 when financial problems set in and creditors, including banks, started hovering over its estimated Ksh 6 billion worth of assets.
Urithi was among the worst hit after the Covid pandemic, with investors withholding monthly contributions and members of the cooperative demanding refunds or the fulfillment of their investments.
As the real estate sector came to a standstill in 2020, the High Court authorized Family Bank to auction the 104 acres piece of land owned by the cooperative to recover Ksh 315.1 million owed to it by the housing cooperative.
Maina said Panorama Gardens project has been a labour of love, a vision embarked upon together with buyers to create a remarkable gated community.
“Along the way, we encountered unexpected challenges and unforeseen hurdles that extended the timeline and, regrettably, required additional contributions from our valued members. Your willingness to stand by us, both in spirit and in action, has been nothing short of remarkable,” he told the investors.
Thanking the bank and investors in the project, Maina said the Society will soon reach out to all the investors of other projects.
“Those whose projects have not resumed, we are calling for the patience. There is the will, support and assurance from my office; I am confident that those who invested in Urithi will get the benefits of the projects that they invested in,” he added.
