EACC seeks to recover grabbed property worth Ksh.10 billion in Mombasa

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has singled out Mombasa among the counties with serious land-grabbing cases in Kenya.

The commission on Tuesday said it is pursuing over 130 cases in court seeking to recover grabbed public properties worth approximately Ksh.10 billion in the coastal region.

According to the commission’s CEO Twalib Mbarak, they have so far successfully recovered several properties in Mombasa through litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), such as the Hobley Estate in the Buxton area belonging to the Ministry of Housing, next to the Affordable Housing Project in Mombasa.

The property is valued at Ksh. 500 million and currently houses County Government employees.

Six government houses belonging to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) and one belonging to the Ministry of Housing all in the Nyali/Bamburi Estate, cumulatively valued at Ksh.420 million, have also been recovered.

On September 9, 2021, the Coast Water Works Development Agency lodged a complaint at the EACC alleging that public land belonging to the Agency had been grabbed by private entities in collusion with public officials.

The anti-graft agency established that the properties had indeed been grabbed and titles issued to various private persons and companies. Some of the beneficiaries sold the land to third parties who subsequently charged the same with banks for colossal sums of money.

The illegal allocation involved the creation of three parcels with a cumulative market value of Ksh.365,000,000.

So far, EACC has filed three recovery suits in the Environment and Land Court in Mombasa seeking to have the titles held by private individuals revoked.

The court has since issued orders prohibiting the defendants from undertaking any developments on the property as the case continues.

Notable cases in court where EACC seeks to nullify the titles held by grabbers include land belonging to Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) which was set aside for the expansion of the Moi International Airport worth Ksh.2.5 billion; government houses for civil servants belonging to KRA valued at Ksh.358.5 million and five parcels of land stolen from Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) worth Ksh. 150 million.

The commission also seeks to recover a road reserve, excised from Machakos Road in Mombasa worth Ksh. 21 million and a land parcel worth over Kes.100 million grabbed from the Postal Corporation of Kenya in Mombasa by a senior county official.