NLC faces probe on Sh3b payments to landowners

Parliamentary Accounts Committee chairman Opiyo Wandayi and vice chairperson Jessica Mbalu during a National Land Commission hearing at Parliament Buildings. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Cash running into billions of shillings has been purportedly been used as compensation.
  • NLC officials Muhammad Swazuri, Salome Munubi and Tom Chavangi said they did not understand the required format.

The National Land Commission is facing investigations into payment of compensation claims amounting to Sh2.8 billion to landowners affected by construction of the standard gauge railway.

National Assembly Public Accounts Committee directed the auditor-general’s office to conduct an investigation into the payments it termed suspicious.

The committee, chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, ordered Auditor-General Edward Ouko to begin investigations into the compensation and furnish it with a report in 60 days.

DEPRIVED

“The committee has made this decision, given the gravity of the matter. A lot of money running into billions has been purportedly used to compensate landowners,” Mr Wandayi said.

According to the report of the auditor-general for the 2014/15 financial year, the commission made the payments but did not have documentary evidence.

The commission has been accused of working with cartels to deprive the rightful owners their due compensation, paying compensation without surveying the land and in some cases without valuation reports.

The committee issued the orders as a Mombasa family accused NLC of disregarding a court order and scheming to deprive it of its compensation amounting to Sh519.9 million.

PLANNER

The land in question, which measures 41.2 hectares, had been the subject of an inquiry at public hearings in Mombasa that were conducted by the commission, before it awarded Africa Gas and Oil Ltd Sh159 million as compensation for the land and Sh360 million for interruption of business.

Trouble, however, began when the district physical planner brought to the attention of the family of Mr Kamau Thiong’o that the company had encroached on its land.

He advised the family to liaise with the district surveyor to establish the extent of the encroachment.

ENCROACHMENT

“There is encroachment to your plot by plot No MN/VI/4737. However, the extent of encroachment is not yet established,” the district planner told the family in the January 10, 2013 letter.

“Plot No 755/VI/MN exists in our land roll and registered in the name of Mr Kamau Thiong’o,” he added.

The letter, signed by a Mr Manyala P.O. for the district planner, added that the office had neither recommended nor issued certificate of compliance over the building plans, change of user, division or consolidation on development application on the plot or part of it.

ACCOUNT

Africa Gas and Oil Ltd moved to court and in a preliminary ruling, Justice Anne Omollo found that the ownership of the land was contested and ordered NLC to deposit the total compensation sum of Sh519.9 million in an escrow interest earning account pending the hearing and determination of the case.

The family in turn successfully challenged the order at the Court of Appeal.

Strangely, NLC, the office of Attorney-General and the National Treasury supported the stay order in the Court of Appeal only for the land commission to ignore the same order and proceed to pay award the cash to Africa Gas and Oil Ltd.

SCHOOLS

The commission is also on the spot over the payment of Sh1.5 billion to Whispering Palms Estate as compensation for the land on which two public schools in Nairobi are located, even though the firm does not own the plot.

The money is part payment of Sh3.3 billion which is the estimated cost of the land.

The matter is being investigated by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

In April 2015, the commission paid Sh796 million to Almasi Ltd as compensation on land acquired for the expansion and improvement of Outer Ring Road, even though the records showed that Afrison Export Import Ltd and Huelands Ltd claimed ownership of the same piece.

PROPERTIES

The document shows that the commission paid Sh667.9 million to a company called Dopp for a 13.3ha piece in Mombasa registered as MN/VI/1042, but the existence, and even the ownership of the land land is in question.

Maganda Scheme received Sh375.4 million for two pieces measuring 6.448ha (Sh215 million) and 5.645ha (Sh160 million), Miritni Free Port got Sh1.475 billion for 22ha, East African Gas Company was given Sh700 million for five pieces measuring, 1.147, 0.298, 1.308, 1.052 and 1.589ha.

Colfax Holding Ltd also received more than Sh210 million for seven pieces of land measuring between 0.279ha and 1.612ha, Geyser International Ltd was paid Sh372 for 5.282ha, and a further Sh5.8 million as compensation for the piece of land while Fort Properties was paid Sh92 million for 0.590ha.

LAND VALUE

In recommending for audit, the committee raised queries on how the payments were determined after huge disparities emerged, with some  individuals paid as high as Sh6.4 million for 3.25 acres while others with a similar size getting Sh3 million.

“This team wants to know if the land commission ascertained parcel numbers, precise acreage and sizes and independently confirmed the accurate value,” Mr Wandayi said.

NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri, Director Valuation and Taxation at the commission Salome Munubi and CEO Tom Chavangi had explained to the committee that the delay in providing the essential details was because they did not understand the required format.

BYPASSES

Some of the projects whose compensation are under scrutiny include Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport corridor, Outer Ring Road, Dongo Kundu Road, Sotik-Ndanai, Cheptiret-Baraton, Kangema-Gacharage roads, Nairobi southern and Meru eastern and western bypasses.