Grabbed police, county land recovered in Laikipia and Nyeri
What you need to know:
- The commission’s CEO Halakhe Waqo said his office was currently investigating tens of cases in Mt Kenya region, involving Lands officials for various allegations of corruption and unethical conduct.
- Mr Waqo said his office had completed investigations in over 35 complaints received resulting to filing of over 20 civil suits and five criminal cases against three former land registrars, currently pending before courts.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered four prime parcels of public land which had been grabbed in Nyeri and Laikipia counties.
Two of the parcels worth millions of shillings had been grabbed from Karatina police station following collusion between influential individuals and Lands officials while the others belong to the Laikipia county government.
The commission’s CEO Halakhe Waqo said his office was currently investigating tens of cases in Mt Kenya region, involving Lands officials for various allegations of corruption and unethical conduct.
“The police station had been squeezed to a corner and couldn’t expand because most of its land was grabbed. This happened through collusion of Lands officials, there is nobody capable of taking away public land without assistance of public officers,” said Mr Waqo.
He said the region received a monthly average of 20 reports touching on various issues of corruption and unethical conduct in land management.
COMPLETED INVESTIGATIONS
This was revealed in a speech read on his behalf by EACC Central Regional Manager Jackson Mue during the official opening of a workshop on implementation of the leadership and integrity regulations for the Lands Ministry at the Kenya School of Government, Embu.
Mr Waqo said his office had completed investigations in over 35 complaints received resulting to filing of over 20 civil suits and five criminal cases against three former land registrars, currently pending before courts.
“In addition, 36 parcels of land within the region have undergone valuation in readiness for filing of recovery suits. The cases mainly involve abuse of office, fraud relating to land sale and purchase as well as double allocation and registration of land,” he said.
The official mentioned land brokers who hang around land registry as the main conveyors of bribes among land officers and major impediments to lands reforms.
“It is illogical to imagine that someone would wake up every day and go to a government office for a whole week without a benefit.
“The lands sector has a high propensity to corruption and ethical malpractice which if not addressed urgently will impede the achievements envisaged under Kenya’s Vision 2030, especially, aspirations under the economic pillar,” said Mr Waqo.
The three day workshop is meant to build the capacity on Chapter Six of the Constitution and its enabling laws and regulations.
