Nyahururu: EACC recovers parcels of grabbed land worth Ksh 110M

Anti corruption body EACC has recovered and returned to the public twelve (12) parcels of public land that were irregularly, illegally and fraudulently hived off from land set aside for expansion of bus park in Nyahururu Town, Laikipia County.

Addressing the press from the site of the recovered property in Nyahururu on Thursday, EACC Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi revealed that the land parcels, cumulatively measuring 2.5 acres with a current market value of approximately Ksh 110 million, were illegally allocated to private individuals who had commenced commercial developments including the construction of a mega shopping mall when EACC moved in.

Ngumbi said that the Commission, through its Central Regional Office in Nyeri, launched investigations upon receipt of a complaint from Mitumba traders in Nyahururu Town on 21^st February, 2022.

The traders reported that land reserved for extension of Nyahururu Bus Park, which the traders were using, had been irregularly, wrongfully, illegally and unlawfully allocated to private developers who had commenced construction of commercial building and were evicting the traders.

Speaking at the same event, the Nyahururu Mitumba Traders led by their Chairman Peter Maina Mwangi thanked the EACC for saving them from eviction by the grabbers and urged the Commission to assist in recovery of all the other plots grabbed in the area.

They called upon the County Government to develop the land recovered by EACC for use by the traders.

The Commission’s investigations established as follows; that sometime in 1984 or thereabout the defunct County Council working in cahoots with the then Commissioner of Lands, James Raymond Njenga, hived off 2.5 acres of land belonging to Ngare Nyiro Primary School in Nyahururu town for expansion of Nyahururu Bus park.

The investigations also revealed that the Commissioner of lands had promised the school that the parcel hived off would be used for expansion of the Bus Park and that if it would no longer be required for that purpose it would be reverted back to the school;

Also, the Commissioner of Lands, officials of the defunct County Council of Nyandarua working in cahoots with the then Commissioner of Lands, Wilson Gachanja, caused the portion reserved for expansion of Nyahururu Bus park to be subdivided in 12 portions and letters of allotment were issued to private individuals.

EACC also pointed that that upon sub-division (survey), the parcel yielded Nyahururu Block VI/580, 581, 582, 583, 584,586, 587, 588, 589, 590, 591 and 592. The parcels have been valued at Kes. 9.2 million each.

Upon conclusion of investigations which established that the properties constitute public land, the Commission filed two recovery suits at the Nyahururu Environment and Land Court against 13 individuals comprising the twelve (12) grabbers and the then Commissioner of Lands Wilson Gachanja who facilitated the fraudulent transactions by dishing out public land in breach of public trust.

Based on the strong evidence gathered by the Commission showing that the properties constituted public land at the time they were allocated to the defendants, all the defendants engaged the Commission on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) out of which they surrendered the illegal ownership documents to the Commission.

Following finalization of the ADR Process in November 2023, the Court delivered a consent Judgement and issued declarations and orders revoking all the titles held by the 12 private individuals.

The Court further issued a permanent injunction restraining all the defendants, their agents, servants or any other person acting on their behalf from any dealings with the land parcels except by way of surrender back to the Government.

The Commission is currently in the process of transferring the land back to Laikipia County Government.

The Commission has since written to the Land Registrar to rectify the land Register by cancelling all entries relating to the defendants and issue new titles in the name of

Laikipia County Government, as ordered by the Court.

The Commission has 10 other recovery suits before the Nyahururu Environment and Land Court seeking recovery of Government land and houses in Nyahururu.

Among them is the land worth Ksh 200 million hosting the Agricultural Mechanization Services which was established in 1946 to support potato farmers through subsidized hire of plant and tractor services.

Even with the machinery on site, three private developers have grabbed the land and obtained titles.