EACC recovers Sh25m road reserve next to University of Nairobi Mombasa Campus

A picture of the land allegedly illegally grabbed.[Courtesy, KBC]

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered a Sh25 million road reserve that was allegedly grabbed and converted into private property near the University of Nairobi’s Mombasa Campus.

The property, identified as Mombasa Municipality/Block XIX/305, lies along Machakos Road and provides access to the university campus.

The recovery follows a judgment by the Environment and Land Court which found that the parcel had formed part of a public road reserve before it was illegally and fraudulently alienated in 1994.

In a judgment, Justice Yuvinalis Maronga Angima declared the lease and survey plan used to create the parcel null and void and ordered the cancellation of the relevant land and survey records.

The court also permanently barred further dealings with the property.

The case arose from investigations conducted by  EACC into the alleged irregular allocation of land reserved for public use.

According to the court findings, the road reserve was unlawfully excised from Machakos Road and allocated to the late Ezekiel Luyali, who was then a councillor at the Municipal Council of Mombasa.

The alleged allocation was facilitated by David Kalume Randu, then Town Clerk, and Ahmed Mwidhani, who served as Mayor.

The transaction took effect on June 1, 1994, culminating in a lease dated September 1, 1994, which was registered the following day.

The court found that the legal procedure required under the Local Government Act for closing a public road had not been followed

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) headquareters in Nairobi. [Jenipher Wachie, Standard]

Among the missing requirements were Gazette notices announcing an intention to close the road, a valid and approved Part Development Plan, a Council or committee resolution approving the allocation and approval by the then Minister for Local Government.

The court consequently found that the alienation was illegal and fraudulent and that EACC had established its claim for recovery of the property.

Justice Angima declared the 1994 lease null and void and incapable of conferring any interest.

The Chief Land Registrar was ordered to rectify the register by cancelling entries relating to the lease.

The court also declared Survey Plan Folio Register (F/R) No. 264/37, which created the parcel, null and void and directed the Director of Surveys to cancel and expunge it.

A permanent injunction was further issued restraining the first defendant, his servants, agents or assigns from alienating, selling, charging, leasing, transferring, disposing of or otherwise dealing with the property.

EACC says that the decision reinforces the principle that land reserved for public use cannot lawfully be converted into private property through irregular allocation.

The Commission has called on public officers and institutions entrusted with public land to exercise their mandates within the law and safeguard public resources.

EACC said the recovery underscores the need for strict adherence to legal procedures in the management and protection of public land.