Sleuths given six months to probe graft at Ardhi House

Jacob Kaimenyi, the Cabinet Secretary for Lands and Physical Planning, at his office in Nairobi on January 10, 2017. FILE PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Staff found culpable by EACC officers have been suspended while others have been sent on compulsory leave, says Minister.

Anti-corruption officials conducting a systems audit at the Lands ministry have an extra six months to come up with ways of rooting out underhand deals that have been the hallmark of Ardhi House.

They are expected to smoke out those involved in illegal transactions by establishing a trail from Nairobi to regional lands offices.

Lands Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi told the Sunday Nation in an interview that staff found culpable by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officers have been suspended to ensure they do not interfere with the ongoing audit.

He said staff found to have stayed in one station for more than five years had been sent on compulsory leave. Last week, some staff at Nairobi’s central registry were questioned by EACC officers on their suspected role in dubious land transactions.

“This is not witch-hunt. I am asking clean officials to carry out their work without fear. But those found to have flouted the laid-down regulations will be dealt with accordingly. The EACC has until May, or earlier, to prepare and release the report for stern action to be taken against perpetrators,” he said in the interview at his office.

The Land CS said the changes come just months after about 350 officials in nine registries in various parts of the country were transferred to other government departments following complaints of bribery and malpractices in their offices.

Prof Kaimenyi said security officers posted by the National Police Service had also been replaced after it was discovered that some had been compromised by brokers, making it difficult for them to act independently to curb illegal dealings at Ardhi House.

“We have also received criminal investigations officers who will prowl the corridors dressed incognito (in civilian clothes) with strict instructions to arrest and, where necessary, prefer criminal charges against anyone found perpetrating graft or abuse of office,” he said.

In an earlier interview, EACC chief executive Halakhe Waqo said the audit had discovered deeply rooted tentacles that influence the goings-on at Nairobi’s central registry and at various counties where documents vanish or are illegally altered.

Eagerly awaited

“We are promising a dossier that will change the way people view the Lands ministry. The trails show a clear line of complicity within Ardhi House, right to the county land registries. Records are altered to facilitate issuing of new titles for the same parcels of land,” he said.

Prof Kaimenyi said the EACC’s report was eagerly awaited by Kenyans who have been victims of land cartels and by those who have shunned investing in land for fear of losing their money.

“I allowed the extension due to the huge workload EACC officers encountered at Ardhi House, with the trail going cold at county land registries. Each incident contains records that have a clear trail from Nairobi to the grassroots, showing who initiated a transaction, who approved it, and who effected the changes,” he said.

Prof Kaimenyi said the ministry had also disrupted many private businesses conducted by government land surveyors, valuers and other people, which made it impossible to access services. This saw the officials spend more time in private offices handling private chores while ignoring pleas for service at lands offices.

“The public officials decline to settle land boundary disputes and delegate the role to private surveyors,” he said.

Land issues are very emotive, with many cases of lives lost and families torn asunder by disputes. Many people have lost substantial amounts of money after buying illegally acquired land.

Prof Kaimenyi said the Department of Criminal Investigations was also handling several cases through its Land Fraud Unit, creating a multi-pronged onslaught on the vice.

In Nairobi where all land records have been digitised, it is easy to follow the trail on who logged in and requested for alterations leading to issuance of new land documents, Mr Waqo said.

Measures taken to probe illegal dealings at Ardhi House include the soon-to-be-formed Leased Land Task Force, and formulation of new laws to deter haphazard alienation of land.

Other measures include the proposed Land Valuation Index Bill, which is before the Senate. The Bill seeks to cap and differentiate land prices within cities, towns and rural areas.

Once it becomes law, it will enable the government to easily acquire land for public use at the current market prices, ending speculation that ignites price increases, making it costly to execute public projects such as the standard gauge railway.

The Index Bill also introduces a new set of rules on compensation to include purchase of land of equal size. It gives the government leeway to stagger payments for a parcel of land deemed costly.