The Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) has reclaimed public land worth Ksh 700 million which had initially belonged to the Kenya School of Law (KSL).
The ruling was issued by Justice Bernard Ebosso, on Tuesday, December 8, who cancelled the official documents which had been issued to a local company.
The commission had accused a KSL former principal, Leonard Njagi, of colluding with directors of a local company in order to grab the public land measuring 0.96 acres.
The commission argued that Njagi used his office to illegally transfer the property to the local company.
Court documents indicated that the company then sold the land to a local insurance company for Ksh 50 million. The land was further used as security by the insurance company when it acquired a ksh 10 million loan from the bank, the commission noted.
Judge Ebosso, upon reviewing the evidence produced in court revoked the title deeds arguing that the land was not available for transfer to a private company.
He also ordered the Chief Lands Registrar to register the land under the Principal Secretary National Treasury.
Investigations carried out by the commission showed that the prime land, located along Bishops Road, Nairobi County, served as the official residence of the KSL school principal.
Initially, the land had been allocated to the East African Common Service Authority and a grant was issued in 1962, but a 0.96 acre portion was given to the KSL.
Reports indicated that despite the portion of land being owned by KSL, a survey was done 15 years later and title deeds were issued in favor of the local company.
The commission further hinted that Njagi served as director of the company to which he denied the allegations.
EACC Twalib Mbarak noted that the judgement would serve as a warning to individuals or companies who illegally acquired public land.
"The judgment is a clear signal to land grabbers that irregularly acquired public property will be recovered. EACC invites others in a similar position to voluntarily surrender land in their possession that was set aside for public utility,” he noted.
