National Land Commission (NLC) Chairperson Gershom Otachi has fallen out with his commissioners over the controversial purchase of the iconic City Cabanas Hotel at a cost of Ksh1.5 billion.
The purchase of the Mombasa Road-based establishment - by way of compulsory acquisition - has turned the commissioners against Otachi after it emerged that the land was being claimed by more than one person.
The commissioners threatened to pass a vote of no confidence against their chairman whom they accused of failing to protect the public interest in the sale.
In the meeting, it emerged that NLC chairman did not disclose to the commission that there was a court order stopping the payment of Ksh1.5 billion to Rosaline Macharia until a dispute on the ownership of the land was settled.
Minutes from the minutes showed that there was mounting pressure from Kenya National Highway Authority and Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KeNHA) to acquire the land for the construction of the Nairobi Expressway.
Otachi, who successfully represented General Hussein Ali and participated in President Uhuru Kenyatta's ICC case, told the commission that he had informed them of the court order in January.
The members of the commission accused him of authoring the document in April then backdating it to January.
The speed at which the commission released payment for the land raised eyebrows, considering that many Kenyans are forced to wait for an extended period of time for compensation.
The land is being contested by Rosaline and Simon Ondiba, both who claim to have bought the land in 1994 from the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ksh45 million and Ksh60 million respectively.
The compulsory acquisition of businesses along Mombasa Road for the construction of the Nairobi Expressway will see the government fork out billions in compensation.
The government, through the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) also plans to construct a traffic control centre on the piece of land.
The design of a new Integrated Traffic Management Centre (TMC) for Nairobi is complete, paving the way for its construction.
