By Nelson Musungu, Bungoma
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered a prime parcel of land worth Sh35 million belonging to the Ministry of State Department for Housing and Urban Development, located next to the Bungoma State Lodge at Milimani area in Bungoma Town, which had been grabbed by a private individual.
Subsequently, the individual demolished a government house that stood on the land, known as Bungoma Township/169, measuring about half an acre and constructed a multimillion luxury maisonette.
In a judgment delivered by Bungoma Environment and Land Court, Justice Enock Cherono declared that all transactions leading to the acquisition of the land by Ms. Judy Nekoye were fraudulent, illegal, null and void.
The court also issued orders for her eviction from the property.
Justice Cherono nullified the Certificate of lease and directed the Bungoma Land Registrar to rectify the Land Register by canceling all illegal entries relating to the grabbers.
During the proceedings, EACC, through Advocate Ruth Ayunga, informed the Court that its investigations established that the property was among properties reserved by the Government in 1961 for the construction of residential houses for senior public officers.
In 2004, the property was irregularly and illegally allocated to Charles Nyasani and Scolastica Nyakerario, who later transferred it to Judy Nekoye in 2016.
Nekoye petitioned the court seeking to be declared the owner of the land, a move EACC opposed vigorously.
Upon hearing the case, Judge Cherono ruled in favor of EACC and issued the following orders and declarations:
“A declaration that the Certificate of Lease registered on 18 October 2002 in favor of Charles, Nyasani and Scolastica Nyakerario over Bungoma Township 169 was fraudulently obtained, null and void, and incapable of conferring any interest to the plaintiff (Nekoye),” the judgement reads in part
It continues : “A declaration is hereby made that the lease registered on 24 October 2016 in favor of the plaintiff (Ms. Nekoye) over Bungoma Township 169 was fraudulently obtained, illegal, null, and void,”
The judge ordered that the registration of all entries relating to the Certificate of Lease issued on October 2016 in respect of Bungoma Township 169 be cancelled.
Emmanuel Were, a civil society and human rights defender, applauded the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for its relentless efforts to recover public property that had been illegally acquired by private individuals.
“I commend the work of the EACC for recovering the grabbed house worth Sh50 million back to the government,” Were said.
He noted that land grabbing in Bungoma, especially in the Milimani area has become rampant with private developers illegally settling on public land meant for government projects.
“Milimani estate in Bungoma town is public land. We wonder how some people managed to secure title deeds for pieces of land there. We ask EACC to launch more investigations and evict all those who have illegally occupied government land,” he added.
Were said the ruling was a strong message to individuals who use their influence and connections to take over public properties for personal gain.
He further urged the commission not to relent in its pursuit of justice and recovery of stolen public assets, saying the public is fully behind their efforts.
The human rights defender warned that if the evictee defies the court orders and fails to vacate the property, civil society groups will take it upon themselves to push for the implementation of the court ruling.
“The court has done its work. If the evictee still stays in the house, we are going to stage protests and remove her by force. We will not allow public property to remain in private hands,” Were noted.
Were also urged the EACC to extend its investigations beyond Bungoma town to other parts of the county and neighboring counties, arguing that corruption in land offices had facilitated massive land grabbing.
