NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 28 — The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered public land valued at Sh12 million that had been set aside for police housing at Karatina Police Station in Nyeri County.
The parcel, Karatina Municipality/Block II/383, measuring approximately 0.074 acres, was surrendered to the government following a 13-year court battle.
In a consent recorded before the Environment and Land Court in Nyeri, Justice Evans Makori on February 17 ordered the surrender of the certificate of lease for the property to the government, free of any burden of hindrances.
The consent was entered between the EACC and the registered owner, Peter Ngari.
“The Commission had on 14 May 2013 filed Nyeri ELC No. 92 of 2013, EACC vs Joseph Mithamo Wachira, Peter Thinwa Ngari, John Muriuki Ruthuthi and Wilson Gacanja, seeking recovery of the land,” EACC said.
Investigations established that the property had originally been reserved for police housing in Karatina town.
However, a 1998 survey excised part of the land and produced two development plans: Ref. No. C20/98/4 for a proposed residential plot and Ref. No. C20/98/5 for the existing police station site.
According to the EACC, the excised parcel was allocated to Joseph Mithamo Wachira, who later transferred it to Ngari on July 19, 2001.
The anti-graft agency said investigations found that the irregular excision and allocation were facilitated by Johnson Muriuki Ruthuthi, then a provincial physical planner in the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, and Wilson Gacanja, the then commissioner of lands.
“At the time of the survey and allocation, the land had already been designated as government property for police housing and was therefore not available for subdivision or allocation,” the Commission said.
The anti-graft agency noted that the court’s adoption of the consent order brings the protracted dispute to a close and clears the way for the land to be used for its intended public purpose.
The commission urged individuals in possession of government land or holding title documents to such property to voluntarily surrender it through its Alternative Dispute Resolution framework.
