EACC goes for land grabbers in Kisumu
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Executive Officer Twalib Mbarak speaks during a meeting with religious leaders on May 29, 2019 at Serena Hotel. The agency is closing in on grabbers of land in Kisumu. PHOTO | KANYIRI WAHITO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- A majority of the culprits are present and former politicians based in the region. Several senior businessmen are also on the list.
- Mr Mbarak promised that the commission would move to recover more land from grabbers.
Top politicians in Nyanza region are among individuals on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) radar as the drive to recover parcels of Kenya Railways Corporation land grabbed in Kisumu over the years gathers momentum.
The recovery effort follows a directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta that all land belonging to the State corporation be recovered as part of the ongoing revitalisation of the Kisumu Inland Port whose launch is pending.
The commission, which recently described the grabbers as “a nuisance in the lakeside region”, is in the next few weeks expected to take firm action after it gave culprits seven days to present original documents to its Integrity House headquarters in Nairobi.
The EACC has revealed that a majority of the culprits are present and former politicians based in the region. Several senior businessmen are also on the EACC list.
The move comes a month after the commission recovered 0.14 hectares of Kenya Railways land within Kisumu municipality from East African Legislative Assembly MP Oburu Oginga following a successful suit challenging his ownership.
PROVE OWNERSHIP
The land title deed numbers in question are Kisumu Municipality Block 7/4, 5, 207, 373, 384, 422, 424, 425, 426, 427, 429, 430, 433, 435, 438, 439, 440, 446, 468, 470, 477, 479, 484, 494, 495, 499, 500, 501, 502, 505, 510, 530, 559 and subsequent divisions.
Owners of the parcels and those occupying it are required to submit to the anti-graft agency original ownership documents, transfer documents and consents from the Lands Control Board.
EACC Chief Executive Officer Twalib Mbarak said the anti-corruption commission is investigating irregular allocation of public land in Kisumu.
Terming the recovery of land from Dr Oburu a major milestone, Mr Mbarak promised that the commission would move to recover more land from grabbers.
He said the land recovery was a motivation for the agency to deal with other land grabbers.
According to the commission, several land parcels have already been recovered. “It is the same scenario, like Oburu's, all of them were irregularly allocated through underhand deals without a single cent being paid,” said EACC spokesman Yassin Amaro on Friday.
The commission has asked beneficiaries to return the land through the alternative dispute resolution mechanism.
