Ex-lands boss Sammy Mwaita charged with Ksh.150M land fraud

Former Lands Commissioner and Baringo Central MP Sammy Silas Komen Mwaita was on Monday released on a Ksh.10 million bond in a case where he is linked to a multi-million-shilling land fraud case in Nairobi West.

Mwaita was apprehended on Sunday and is facing several charges, including conspiracy to commit a felony, creating a document without authority, abuse of office, and providing false information to a public officer.

Appearing at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, the former legislator faced multiple charges related to a land fraud scheme involving property worth Ksh.150 million.

He was charged with unlawfully creating two title deeds with the intent to defraud the rightful owners of two prime parcels of land.

The prosecution told the court that Mwaita and his co-accused, Brian Kiptoo Kiplangat, conspired on or before March 30, 2001, to fraudulently generate title documents for the land without legal authority.

The forged documents were intended to defraud Rose Njoki King’au of land designated as Plot No. "A".

“Mwaita, while serving in public office, fraudulently registered both Plot "A" and an adjacent parcel identified as Plot "B", without the consent or knowledge of their respective owners, Rose Njoki King’au and Micugu Wagatharia, an act that constituted abuse of office,” said the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

In addition to the fraud charges, Mwaita faces counts including conspiracy to commit a felony, making a document without authority, plus two counts of abuse of office, and a further two counts of giving false information to public officers.

Mwaita pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on a bond of Ksh.10 million or an alternative cash bail of Ksh.2 million, with two sureties.

Meanwhile, Kiplangat failed to appear for plea-taking, and Senior Principal Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi issued a summons for his appearance on Tuesday.