EACC repossesses Sh300 million worth of grabbed public land in Kisumu county

CHRIS MAHANDARA- KNA

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has repossessed prime public land worth Sh300 million which had been grabbed in Kisumu County.

The commission’s spokesperson Eric Ngumbi said the exercise conducted over the last two months follows a successful civil litigation process, which the agency took up on behalf of the affected government institutions.

Among the parcels repossessed include seven acres belonging to Victoria Primary School worth Sh100 million, two plots belonging to Kenya Railways Corporation and a road reserve belonging to the Ministry of Roads in Milimani valued at Sh180 million.

Also recovered is a government house in Milimani Estate belonging to the State Department of Housing valued at Sh20 million.

The Victoria Primary School land, he said, was fraudulently sold by the school's former head teacher, who colluded with one of the board members and forged minutes which were used to dispose of 15 acres belonging to the school.

Mr Ngumbi said EACC is still in court to recover the remaining eight acres as the push to repossess government land and houses in Kisumu gains momentum.

He said the agency is pursuing other parcels of land belonging to Kenya Railways, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Roads, Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA), Kenya Prisons Service and Kisumu Water and Sanitation Company (KIWASCO).

"In one of the parcels belonging to Kenya Prisons Service, meant for construction of the regional headquarters, a law firm took over the property, subdivided it and sold it to individuals who have constructed palatial homes," he said.

All the affected parcels in Kisumu whose title deeds were in private hands, were valued at Sh10 billion shillings.

"The EACC has moved to court to repossess these parcels of land and government houses which have been grabbed,” said the spokesperson.

Ngumbi said Kisumu, Nyeri, Nakuru and Mombasa counties were leading in cases of land grabbing, adding that EACC will not relent until all the affected parcels are reverted to the government.

Land grabbing, he added, is being aided by some corrupt Ministry of Lands officials saying the purge shall be extended to the land’s registry offices.

 He cautioned Kenyans buying land to do due diligence to ensure that they don't end up purchasing public land from cartels.