The Environment and Land Court based in Milimani, Nairobi has issued a 45-day vacation notice to residents of a prime property located in the South B area.
This was after a ruling delivered on December 23, indicated that the land had been grabbed in 1999 by a land official who subsequently allocated it to himself and his wife.
The couple (now deceased) would then sell the land later to the current owner who has now been ordered to vacate the premises.
With the ruling, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has now begun executing orders and declarations that revoked the current title of the prime property.
The current owner should he not vacate within 45 days, EACC will be at liberty to evict him using lawful means.
Additionally, a former lands commissioner who facilitated the grabbing of the government land has been ordered by the court to pay all the costs of the suits.
The commissioner was found guilty of going against the terms of employment while issuing the land title.
It was found out during the hearing that the former land official proceeded to issue a title well aware that the land was not available for allocation.
“Consequently, costs should be paid by the 1st and 5th (the former land official) Defendant. However, the 1st Defendant is already dead so costs shall be paid by the 5th Defendant,” the Court ruled.
“A permanent injunction be and is hereby issued restraining the defendants, their servants and/or agents or tenants from alienating, encumbering, disposing of, wasting and trespassing upon or in any other way interfering with the land parcel,” the ruling further dictated.
As such, the owner has been ordered to immediately commence the process of surrendering the land to the government.
As of January 2024, EACC has recovered assets worth Ksh26 billion and averted a loss of Ksh136 billion.
Over the same period, the Commission has also secured 358 convictions related to grabbing and misuse of public resources and property.
