Engineer James Mugoya from Uganda owns Mugoya Construction & Engineering Limited, which constructed Times Towers, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Building, and Kabarak University.
Mugoya was affiliated with top politicians during the reign of the late President Daniel Arap Moi.
This allowed him to win several notable projects, including Times Towers, the NSSF building, and the Embakasi housing projects.
Times Towers is located in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD), is one of the tallest buildings in Kenya after Britam Tower, GTC Office Tower and UAP Tower.
The building exclusively houses the main offices of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
NSSF Building, also known as Social Security House, is located on Bishop Road in Nairobi.
It was designed by J.E.D. Nyaseme & Associates, the main contractor for the project,0 was Mugoya Construction & Engineering Ltd.
His Company also built Moi High School, Kabarak University, and the Kisumu Provincial Headquarters.
Background & Education
Mugoya was born in 1946 in Bulubandi, Uganda’s Eastern Region, as the first of four children.
He attended Uganda’s Bulyansime Primary, Iganga Boys, and the elite Kings College Budo in Uganda, where he completed his A-level studies.
He later joined the University of Nairobi (UoN), where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.
Mugoya graduated on October 26, 1971, at a ceremony witnessed by President Jomo Kenyatta.
He was registered as Abiam JM Isabirye in a class that had 46 students.
James Mugoya Career and Projects
Mugoya decided to stay in Kenya after graduation due to Idi Amin’s coup on January 26, 1971.
He founded Mugoya Construction & Engineering Limited.
It is reported that Mugoya formed a close relationship with the sons of many top government officials during his time at UoN.
This helped secure lucrative projects after graduation.
In 1992, Mugoya landed a tender to construct the 40-storey Times Tower building, which was the tallest at the time.
The project was financed by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the state.
In 1995, NSSF awarded Mugoya a contract to construct 265 houses in Karen.
The project also included an administration block, a clubhouse, and a kindergarten.
However, the project failed to start due to pending approvals from the Nairobi City Council.
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Claims from Govt and Settlements
In 2012, Mugoya was paid Ksh342 million as an out-of-court settlement for the same project.
He had initially claimed Ksh633 million.
In 2001, he filed a Ksh1.9 billion claim against the government, stemming from a contract awarded in 1990 to construct a building intended as an annex to the Treasury building.
Mugoya Estate in Nairobi’s South C and Mugoya Housing Scheme in Nyali, Mombasa County, are both named after Mugoya.
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Controversies
There were claims that Mugoya Construction & Engineering Limited secured multi-billion-dollar projects, as a majority of the stake was owned by powerful KANU oligarchs.
His woes started when President Mwai Kibaki took over in 2002.
The NARC coalition government cancelled his pending road contracts.
The High Court ordered the liquidation of Mugoya Construction & Engineering Limited in 2015 after it was revealed that it was unable to pay creditors.
The company owed Gichuki King’ara & Company Advocates Ksh35 million in legal fees and Dew Security Services Ksh14 million in unpaid bills.
He was arraigned in court in 2010 for allegedly selling off construction machinery worth Ksh3.5 billion that had been charged to Kenya Commercial Bank.
In the same year, he was charged with operating an illegal joint real estate venture valued at Ush8 billion (Ksh235 million) in a Kampala court.
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