A retired judge of the High Court is among private developers being pursued by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on claims of grabbing 130 parcels of government land in prime areas in Nyeri and Laikipia counties valued at Sh2 billion.
The government-owned land parcels that EACC is seeking to recover had been set aside for various institutions such as the Judiciary, a police station, a county commissioner's residence, prisons, schools, the Ministry of Roads and a bus park.
According to the anti-graft body, the judge (name withheld) illegally holds public land in Nyeri town that was meant for the residence of the County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO).
The Commission said yesterday that it is recovering the land and government houses in high-end residential areas in Nyeri, Nanyuki and Nyahururu towns.
In Nyeri, the EACC said investigations covering 60 parcels of land worth over Sh1 billion have been concluded and 30 recovery suits filed at the Environment and Land Court.
In the suits, whose hearing is ongoing, the Commission is seeking to nullify the titles held by private persons and have the land revert back to the Government.
“One of these parcels was illegally alienated from the residence of the County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO) and is currently owned by a former Judge of the High Court,” said the Commission.
In Laikipia county, the Commission said it has recovered a piece of land earmarked for a bus park in Nyahururu town, valued at Sh100 million.
The Commission is processing the title for handover back to the County Government of Laikipia.
In addition, the EACC is conducting investigations over the allocation of 30 parcels of public land that were meant for among others the Nyahururu Chief Magistrate’s official residence, and other facilities for the Judiciary, Ministry of Roads and Ministry of Public Works.
In Nanyuki town, the EACC is probing the allocation of more than 40 parcels of grabbed prime land and high-grade Government houses.
The plots had been reserved for the County Commissioner’s residence, Nanyuki Law Courts, Police Station, Prisons, Chief’s camp, Kenya National Highways Authority, Kenya Rural Roads Authority, Nanyuki High School and Nanyuki Polytechnic among others.
The EACC asked the private developers holding titles to grab public land to voluntarily surrender the same under the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework.
