MCAs raise red flag over construction on railway land

Members of the county assembly have raised the alarm over the ongoing construction on a five-acre piece of land belonging to the Kenya Railways Corporation, saying the agency owes Nakuru County more than Sh200 million in land rates. Two prominent businessmen and a Mombasa-based flour miller are building on the land.

The Business Daily has learnt that the three private developers were issued with a 15-year lease for the land measuring about five hectares by the defunct Nakuru Municipal Council in February last year.

Bus park

The deputy leader of majority in the assembly, Mr Paul Chebor, said that this was despite the former municipal council planner Willy Keter having earmarked the land for other purposes.

“The defunct council had started negotiations with Kenya Railways to acquire the land toward development of infrastructure, including a bus park and a hawkers market and we wonder where the private developers got their lease from,” said Mr Chebor.

A letter written by the clerk to the county assembly and copied to the lands, housing and physical planning executive Rachael Maina, directed the county secretary to prepare to implement the resolutions that would be passed by a House team probing the matter.

“The assembly has resolved that the matter be referred to the Implementation Committee to investigate and report to the House within two weeks on the ownership of the land, nature of development and land development process,” said the letter in part.

Smell a rat

Mr Chebor wondered why the lease agreement was signed a month before the new county government came into office, adding that one of the beneficiaries of the land was an was an interested party as he was a civic leader during the negotiations.

“As an assembly, we are smelling a rat in the whole deal and we shall get the truth as far as the Kenya Railways land lease is concerned,” said Mr Joseph Mwangi Waithaka, the Kabazi Ward member.