Team told to reclaim school land
A photo taken on January 10, 2015 shows the section of land belonging to Lang'ata Road Primary School that was grabbed. FILE PHOTO | EVANS HABIL |
What you need to know:
- Justice commission chief Amollo recommends that investor surrender development on plot.
- Ombudsman wants land belonging to Lang’ata Road Primary School be given back to school and calls for action against officials.
The Ombudsman wants the National Land Commission (NLC) to repossess a plot that was grabbed from Lang’ata Road Primary School in Nairobi.
In a statement, the chairman of the Commission on Administrative Justice, Mr Otiende Amollo, directed that the school be issued a title deed.
The Ombudsman also recommended that disciplinary action be taken against Nairobi County Chief Lands Officer Stephen Mwangi by the County Public Service Board for abetting the illegal acquisition of the school land.
Mr Mwangi had given Vinemag Enterprises, the developer, the authority to submit development plans for the school land.
The Ombudsman investigated the disputed land that had been hived off from the school, sparking protests, which resulted in pupils being tear-gassed earlier this year.
COMPENSATION
The Ombudsman’s report said the land had been acquired by Airport View Housing Limited.
Mr Amollo recommended that the land commission survey the parcel and reclaim the grabbed plot.
The company, the Ombudsman further recommended, should surrender any developments on the land to the school as compensation for the loss of use of the property.
Lang’ata Road Primary School, the investigations revealed, had been allocated 3.8216 hectares by the Commissioner of Lands between 1970 and 1975.
But the current land the school occupies, according to the investigations, was found to be less than the original allocation.
The school does not have any documents to prove that it owns the land because the defunct Nairobi City Council was the custodian of the property.
CHARGES
Airport View Housing Limited, the purported owner of the disputed plot, which was given back to the school, had received a letter of allotment on October 4, 1989.
This was 14 years after the same land had been allocated to the school. The allotment letter was signed by F.W.S. Muthukia for the Commissioner of Lands.
And a title deed was subsequently issued on August 18, 1999 by the then Commissioner of Lands, Mr Wilson Gachanja.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has also been asked to institute abuse of office charges against Mr Gachanja, Mr Mwithukia and Mr Stephen Kariri all of whom are retired public officers.
