Ombudsman report accuses Ongeri, others of grabbing Kisii market plots

Kenya’s ambassador to the United Nations Habitat, Prof Sam Ongeri, has been accused of grabbing sections of Kisii market plots in an ombudsman report.

Prof Ongeri alongside former Cabinet minister Zachary Onyonka, Samson Nyambati Nyamweya (former Kisii Town Clerk), and James Gisemba Oriku (former mayor of Kisii Town) have been recommended for investigation. The Commission on Administrative Justice has also recommended that the land be repossessed.

The report's findings show that Ongeri, for instance, acquired the plot in 1982 while he was Minister of Local Government but has not been able to develop the plot due to public resistance.

Contacted for comment, Prof Ongeri distanced himself from the allegations.

“Like any Kenyan at the time, I applied to the Commissioner of Lands over the available land and once the necessary procedures were done I received an allotment letter, which required I pay for the land and I got the title deed. I did not grab any land," he said.

Prof Ongeri said by the time he acquired the land in 1982, he was not a public official.

I WAS TEACHING

“In 1982, I was in class teaching. It was not until 1988, when I was appointed Minister of Training and Applied Technology, that I took public office. This is pure politics at play.”

The ombudsman said Prof Ongeri and the others named in the report did not respond to requests from the commission to clear their names.

But Prof Ongeri refuted the claim.

“No one from the Commission has contacted me about this. They know where I stay in Kisii and in Nairobi. In fact, the letter they say they sent to me about this matter was sent to an address of the University I used to teach. I expected more professionalism from the ombudsman.”

According to the report, Market under Siege, investigations were carried out from February this year following complaints from members of the public in Kisii County.

The plot, according to the Kisii Municipality Approved Master Plan of 1971, was meant for the Kisii municipal market.

The chairperson of the commission, Mr Otiende Amollo said: “The plot was not duly registered but was subdivided into eight plots, seven of which were hived off and irregularly acquired by private individuals, yet it is public land.”

He added: “Three of the irregularly acquired parcels of land have since been developed while four plots have make-shift stalls occupied by traders selling farm produce.”

The ombudsman said the objective of the investigation was to ascertain whether the public officers were culpable of abuse of power.

The 119-page report inferred in its conclusion that Prof Ongeri, Mr Nyamweya, and Mr Oriku abused power in the acquisition of public property.

OTHERS NAMED

Others named in the allegedly illegal transfer of the public land were Mr Samwel Mayienga Openda, who is said to have acquired the land from the late Zachary Onyonka, as well as Mrs Esther Kemuma Mogaka and Mr Ashwin Gudka.

"Documents available confirm the land in question is public land. For it to have been acquired by private individuals is irregular," said Otiende Amollo.

In addition, the commission called on the principal secretary for Lands, Ms Mariamu El Maawy, to take appropriate punitive action against two public officers, Mr Wilson Gacanja and Mr James Raymond Njenga, who it says facilitated the illegal acquisition.

The commission called on Mr Ongeri and the other public officials to willingly and unconditionally surrender the plots, which they are said to have acquired by virtue of their positions in public service.

The inquiry further called for the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to follow up on the matter.

These were three of the nine recommendations given by the commission pertaining to the land. The recommendations were sent to the President, the Speakers of the two houses of Parliament, the National Land Commission as well as the Attorney-General, the Speaker, Kisii County, the Cabinet secretary for Lands and those mentioned in the report.

The ombudsman says Mr Ongeri and the others named did not respond to requests from the commission to clear their names.