NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 6 — The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has filed a suit before the Environment and Land Court in Thika seeking to recover a nine-acre parcel of public land in Ruiru, Kiambu County, that was allegedly irregularly converted from educational to residential use.
According to the Commission, the land — Ruiru/Kiu Block 3/1372, measuring approximately 3.977 hectares — was originally reserved for the construction of a secondary school within the Kahawa Sukari Residential Scheme.
“It was created from the subdivision of Land Reference No. 10901/20, owned and developed by Kahawa Sukari Limited,” the anti-graft agency stated.
As a condition for approving the residential development, the government, through the then Commissioner of Lands, required the developer to set aside certain plots for public amenities, including schools. One such parcel was Ruiru/Kiu Block 3/1372, specifically earmarked for educational use.
Approval for the development stipulated that construction of the school would commence within 24 months of the lease’s issuance — a condition that was never met.
EACC says that in 2005, Kahawa Sukari Limited sold the land to James Mwangi Wagura and Lucy Waruguru Wagura before fulfilling its lease obligations, in direct breach of terms prohibiting sale or change of use prior to development.
“This sale was in breach of the lease terms, which stipulated that failure to develop the school or change the land use would result in automatic reversion of the land to the government,” EACC noted.
Irregular change of use
Despite this, in 2015, the new owners sought and obtained approval from the County Government of Kiambu to change the land’s use from educational to residential — an application EACC says was irregularly approved by the then Director of Physical Planning.
That approval paved the way for subdivision of the parcel into 37 residential plots, now registered as Ruiru/Kiu Block 3/3704–3729, with certificates of lease issued to private owners.
EACC has now instituted Thika ELC Case No. E228 of 2025, seeking to recover the land and its 37 resultant subdivisions, valued in 2019 at approximately Sh250 million.
In its court filings, the Commission argues that the land was public property reserved for educational purposes, and that its sale and conversion to private ownership were unlawful and irregular. The subsequent subdivision and issuance of new titles, EACC adds, were tainted by fraud and illegality.
The Commission maintains that public land reserved for education cannot be converted or alienated without due process, warning that such irregular transactions undermine community development and public trust in land governance.
On October 29, 2025, the Thika Environment and Land Court issued a temporary injunction restraining the defendants — Kahawa Sukari Limited, James Mwangi Wagura, and Lucy Waruguru Wagura — from selling, transferring, mortgaging, developing, or otherwise dealing with the property pending determination of interlocutory orders scheduled for November 20, 2025.
The case adds to a growing list of EACC suits targeting irregular land allocations, particularly those involving public utility plots in rapidly urbanizing areas such as Ruiru, Kiambu, and Nairobi’s peri-urban zones.
