They whisper his name in Kitale as though it were a curse. Vipul Ratilal Cosar Ramji, known as “Vipul” to those who dare speak, has long been recognised in Trans Nzoia as the land magnate who not only bends laws but also rewrites them wholesale. What follows is a tale of wild audacity: a massive public land grab, the funding of political machines with stolen cash, brazen sex scandals, and judges who supposedly looked the other way.
The spark: 118 prime plots in Kitale’s Block 32/2, land originally held by public bodies including the Kenya Farmers Association and the Kenya Grain Growers Co-operative Union. Yet in 2011, this property was transferred to a foreigner, Avir Kanti Shah a move that should’ve been void, since state corporations generally cannot sell freehold land to non-citizens. Nonetheless, documents were lodged, titles allocated, and soon enough, Vipul claimed he had bought it.
When Trans Nzoia County and MCA Eric Wafula challenged the deal in court, a High Court judge didn’t mince words: Vipul had no standing, no title, and the transfer was declared an abuse of the court process. The case was struck out. Victory, it seemed, for the county.
But justice has its price and for Vipul, it was Sh12 million.
Enter Phanice Khatundi, the County Lands Executive. She is said to have become Vipul’s chosen conduit, allegedly accepting Sh2 million as a “teaser,” then another Sh10 million to make the case quietly vanish. The lawsuit a claim already won by the county suddenly withdrew. The jaw-dropping part: the county never bothered to enforce the court costs awarded to it.
Beyond that, one of the terms allegedly included a monthly Sh1 million payment to fund the Tawe Movement, the political vehicle of Governor George Natembeya. With stolen land money routing into his political machinery, Vipul had effectively created a “corruption loop” that both protected and enriched him.
When bribery and lawsuits weren’t enough, the tactics turned darker. Sources claim Vipul attempted to weave a sex scandal, supposedly implicating the MCA Wafula via a manufactured affair involving a nearby female neighbor. But the script reportedly backfired. Instead of tarnishing Wafula, the attempt exposed an even cruder design: alleged sexual coercion of the neighbour using influence, money, and pressure.
In effect, this was a man weaponising women’s bodies for political destruction. For him, nothing is off limits; dignity, privacy, justice—merely obstacles to be bulldozed.
No grand heist is possible without inside help. David Kipchore, the National Lands Commission’s Trans Nzoia coordinator, is alleged to have authored a letter declaring that the disputed Block 32/2 was not public land despite it clearly belonging to state bodies. Thanks to that stamp, hundreds of fraudulent title deeds magically became “legitimate.”
In other words, the regulator was turned into his enabler, signing off on theft and blurring the lines between public trust and private plunder.
Vipul’s business empire runs through Cheresam Wholesalers, a cash-heavy operation accused of massive tax evasion. It’s the perfect cover for laundering illicit gains. Under the guise of commodity trade, rivers of stolen money supposedly flow freely while Kenya Revenue Authority investigators remain silent.
The land theft fuels the business; the business funds the politics; the politics protect the theft. It’s an endless, self-reinforcing cycle.
What makes Vipul truly scary is his apparent immunity. He ignored court orders, subdivided land despite bans, registered fraudulent titles—all while facing no credible accountability.
He brazenly bribes officials, funds politicians, and manufactures scandals. Yet, seemingly, no one in Kenya’s justice or regulatory system has dared to pin him down. Because when you control both the courts and the county, the law becomes a decoration.
This is no longer a local scandal. The stolen 118 plots represent a loss to all Kenyan schools unbuilt, roads undelivered, and public services starved. The bribes paid are money never spent on hospitals or policing.
Now, the only question remaining: Will the DPP act? Freeze assets? Arrest Vipul? Cancel the titles? Investigate every official implicated—from Khatundi to Kipchore to any lawyer who drafted the transfer documents?
Because in the end, no matter how big the crocodile, every pond has its predators. And Kenya’s patience has run out.
