The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in Nakuru City has recovered 20 prime government houses in private hands worth Ksh 345 million.
EACC South Rift Regional Manager Godfrey Oyugi says the houses within Nakuru town had been grabbed by private individuals but after a successful court dispute, the commission has embarked on reverting the houses to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development as stipulated in law.
Speaking while inspecting the repossessed house units in Nakuru, Oyugi told reporters that civil servants are lawfully occupying the houses and paying rent to the government but after remitting occupancy fees to private individuals and their proxies.
He added that a prime five acre piece of government land is also among the public assets recovered from the unscrupulous private developers.
On 22 September 2023, the Nakuru Environment and Land Court presided over by Hon. Justice Mwangi Njoroge nullified all transactions leading to the dubious transfer of the recovered land and ordered that the asset be registered in the name of Treasury Permanent Secretary in trust on behalf of the ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The manager expressed concern at the inability of government agencies to expand operations due to loss of their land.
Oyugi noted that some corrupt public servants connive with private individuals to allocate land and houses to themselves.
Oyugi said the commission will continue to press criminal charges against the individuals even as their corruptly acquired title deeds are cancelled and reissued to relevant state agencies.
He urged persons in possession of grabbed public land in the region to surrender the titles to the commission voluntarily.
The manager said the commission is encouraging negotiations with holders of such titles through an amicable Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework.
The commission and private entities in the region are also embroiled in 30 more civil cases over public property worth Ksh 7 Billion. Prime Agricultural lands and lands reserved for roads and expansion of state agencies are subject to these cases.
