Mahiga Homes Scandal: KSh 110 Million Collected but No Houses Delivered-Nation Exposes

Joseph Mungai, a Kenyan who spent decades working abroad, returned home in 2019 with one dream — to retire in peace in his own home.

He put his faith, and KSh 5.5 million of his savings, into a three-bedroom house being developed by Mahiga Homes Limited under their Rock Garden 2 gated community project in Ruiru, Kiambu County.

Today, all he owns is a concrete shell surrounded by overgrown weeds — a haunting reminder of a deal gone terribly wrong.

Mr. Mungai is among dozens of victims of what now appears to be yet another failed off-plan housing project, with Mahiga Homes at the center of a growing scandal that is drawing public outrage and legal scrutiny.

For more than a year, Daily Nation sought answers from Mahiga Homes Managing Director, Patrick Muchoki, but he repeatedly dodged interview requests. Last week, however, he finally responded after learning that this story was going to press.

In a phone call with Nation, Mr. Muchoki admitted that his company collected payments from clients — each paying about KSh 5.5 million — but defended the project’s collapse by blaming it on incomplete payments from most buyers.

“This was meant to be a gated community on 7 acres. A number of clients paid in full, around fifteen to twenty, but most didn’t. So we couldn’t proceed,” said Mr. Muchoki.

But Nation has reviewed signed agreements that tell a different story.

According to multiple documents seen by Daily Nation, Mahiga Homes had committed to delivering completed houses on an individual basis — with keys to be handed over upon completion of payments, not dependent on collective buyer funding.

Even by Mr. Muchoki’s own admission, if just 20 people paid in full, Mahiga Homes collected at least KSh 110 million, yet very little construction ever took place on the ground.

Drone footage and eyewitness accounts show only a few skeletal structures, some abandoned mid-roofing, others merely foundation slabs — despite the millions collected.

Buyers, many of them Kenyans living in the diaspora, now communicate through a WhatsApp group where they share frustrations, update each other on legal efforts, and even float the idea of pooling more money to finish the homes themselves.

“We were misled. Mahiga Homes took our hard-earned money and abandoned us. We’re trying to salvage what we can,” said one group member who asked not to be named for fear of intimidation.

This is not the first time Mahiga Homes has faced accusations of breaching contracts, failing to deliver, or misleading buyers — raising serious questions about regulatory oversight in Kenya’s lucrative but poorly monitored real estate sector.

While the government has previously warned Kenyans to be wary of off-plan deals, the Mahiga case adds to a disturbing trend: housing dreams turning into financial nightmares.

As more victims speak out, pressure is mounting on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and consumer protection agencies to take swift action and bring rogue developers to account.

For Mr. Mungai, the house meant for a quiet retirement has become a monument of dashed hopes — and a glaring symbol of a system that often leaves victims with nowhere to turn.