Shocking details have emerged as a petitioner revealed that he paid a Sh1.2 Million bribe to National Lands Commission (NLS) Chairperson, Dr Muhammad Swazuri.
The petitioner, Mr Mugo Njeru, told the National Assembly's Land Committee that the bribe was given to facilitate a handsome compensation for land the government had targetted for the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
Mugo noted that if the underhand deal would have progressed as planned, the chairperson would have walked away with a sum total bribe of Sh25 Million and he would have received a hefty government compensation exceeding Sh125 Million.
In a grand scheme that allegedly involved Dr Swazuri's personal aide, Mr Fadhili Yaa and the Speaker of the Kwale County Assembly, Mr Mugo was instructed to travel to Mombasa in December 2015 where he would meet with the chairperson at a hotel.
Mugo claimed that on arrival, he met with Swazuri's aide who drove him to the hotel where the NLC Chair was waiting with a woman said to be his eldest wife.
“After some introductions, I told Dr Swazuri that I had come with his Mbuzi [bribe] as directed and he proposed that I should give it to Charo (Yaa) who knew how it will reach him. I was loaded with liquid cash, which I left in Mr Yaa’s vehicle,” the Business Daily quotes Mr Mugo.
The petitioner also assured the Committee that he had printed out the correspondence between himself and Mr Yaa to confirm the events.
Dr Swazuri declined to comment on the allegations.
I can’t react to it right away. I have just arrived from the US. I was stranded in Washington for 24 hours and as a result, I acquired pneumonia. I've just come from hospital and I am not ready to respond,” he explained.
He is, however, scheduled to speak to the committee on Wednesday morning.
