A judge has declined to quash a case against former government officials who paid out Sh984 million to companies for parcels of land grabbed from the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).
The parcels belonging to Moi International Airport in Mombasa, according to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), were acquired for the construction of the standard gauge railway and the Dongo-Kundu/Kipevu Road.
The National Land Commission (NLC) compensated two companies in 2015 after allegedly confirming that the titles held were genuine.
But the EACC later sued former Commissioner of Lands Wilson Gachanja, former NLC chief executive Tom Aziz Chavangi and former NLC director of valuation Salome Munubi.
Mr Chavangi had asked the Environment and Land court to stop the case, arguing that a similar matter, raising the same issues was dismissed by the courts in 2019.
“That having considered the rival submissions and the law and noting that this suit is, inter alia, for both recovery of public land and compensation paid out during the compulsory acquisition, the court is in agreement with the counsel for the plaintiff that the 7th defendant (Mr Chavangi) has failed to show that the suits against him are statute time-barred,” Justice Stephen Kibunja said.
The judge further refused to remove Mr Chavangi from the proceedings as requested, saying he was a necessary party in the case.
He said having considered the allegations and prayers raised against Mr Chavangi, the court was of the view that he is a necessary party in the proceedings.
The EACC accuses the former State officials of abuse of office and breach of trust after paying for land that belonged to the KAA.
Evidence tabled in court stated that the grabbed land include part of the airport runway, a United Nations support base, a Kenyan military base and its watchtower.
