The EACC has recovered a piece of land that an individual grabbed from the Kenya Railways 27 years ago in Kisumu.
According to EACC, the land valued at Ksh25 million was recovered after the Commission moved to court seeking a return of the land that was unlawfully grabbed in 1998.
''The EACC has recovered grabbed public land located within Kisumu County, measuring 0.1116 hectares and valued at Kes 25 million belonging to the Kenya Railways Corporation,'' EACC shared in a statement.
The individual accused of obtaining the land unlawfully is reported to have received an allotment letter for the piece of land on October 2, 1998.
EACC announced that the ownership change stemmed from a series of changes witnessed in the management and structure of Kenya Railways Corporation.
''The EACC investigations established that the land parcel no. Kisumu Municipality Block 7/559 was originally owned by the defunct East African Railways and Harbors Administration, as per Legal Notice No. 440 of 1963. In 1986, the land was transferred to the Kenya Railways Corporation, the successor of the East African Railways and Harbors Administration, through Legal Notice No. 24 of 1986,'' EACC added.
''Shockingly, it was discovered that 12 years later, the land was unlawfully allocated to the individual, who received an allotment letter on October 12, 1998. Thereafter, on June 30, 2000, the then Commissioner of Lands issued a Certificate of Lease, finalizing the registration process.''
Following the lodging of the case at the Kisumu Environment and Land Court, Justice Samson Okong’o of the court ordered a cancellation of the Certificate of Title to Kisumu Municipality Block 7/559 issued to the individual for having been obtained unlawfully.
The Commission moved to court in 2009 seeking a declaration that land parcel number Kisumu Municipality Block 7/559 was public land and for cancellation of the Certificate of Title issued in favour of the individual.
This is after the court established that the piece of land was not available for allocation to private individuals as it was government property.
Justice Okong’o, in his judgment, held that the suit property was not available for allocation to private individuals and that the purported Certificate of Lease issued by the Commissioner of Lands was fraudulent, unlawful, null, and void as the land had already been alienated for public purposes.
In recent years, EACC has successfully reclaimed several notable properties that were unlawfully acquired from government agencies. These recoveries include the Kisumu Law Court land, Kenya Railways land at Kisumu Port, and the Kisumu Water and Sanitation Company Limited (KIWASCO) water treatment plant land.
Further, EACC's efforts have also led to the recovery of other significant properties in the lakeside city, such as the Kibuye Market land valued at approximately Ksh2 billion, and public property worth Ksh410 million in the Dunga area.
Additionally, Kisumu County has been plagued by numerous cases of land grabbing, with EACC actively pursuing cases involving properties valued at over Ksh4 billion shillings that are currently pending in the Environment and Land Court.
