Nakumatt says revoked Yako Supermarkets titles not part of buyout
Kakamega Primary School pupils protest against grabbing of school land in 2014. PHOTO | FILE
Yako Supermarkets, which recently sold three retail stores to Nakumatt Holdings, has lost two pieces of land in Kakamega after the government revoked their titles.
The National Land Commission (NLC) nullified the title deeds saying that the land, and several other plots next to it, were taken over illegally from Kakamega Primary School.
Nakumatt, however, said in an interview that the affected pieces of land are different from the plots on which the Yako Kakamega store sits.
“The revoked land registration numbers refer to other properties owned by Yako Limited next to Kakamega Primary School, in downtown Kakamega,” said Nakumatt in a response to the Business Daily queries.
“The proposed, second Nakumatt branch, in Kakamega town, is at a different location from the plots in question and remains clear of any encumbrances.”
Nakumatt added that its transaction with Yako Supermarkets late last year only involved retail assets — shelves, operating space, cooling units, and employees — and not land or buildings.
In October last year, Nakumatt received a go-ahead by the Competition Authority of Kenya to acquire three stores in Kakamega, Busia and Bungoma belonging to Yako Supermarket Limited.
Titles for another five plots were also revoked, with the NLC saying that the land will revert to Kakamega Primary School for use as a playing field.
A Mr Dickson Teyie Mutoka also lost two plots in the revocation. The Yako Supermarkets plot (Kakamega Block II/292) has generated considerable controversy both in court and in Parliament for more than a decade.
Parliament records in 2004 quote then assistant minister in the Office of the President Danson Mungatana saying that 300 children had invaded the land to claim it but some were injured when they were repulsed by a rowdy crowd.
Mr Mungatana went ahead to give a history of the piece of land and concluded that at no time did the land ever belong to the school.
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