High Court stops planned auction of Ksh.10B public land grabbed in Nakuru

The High Court has issued orders barring the auctioning of a grabbed public land in Nakuru County worth over Ksh.10 billion, following a petition by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

The land is part of 165 acres valued at Ksh.10 billion owned by the Agricultural Training Centre (ATC) but was allegedly grabbed by over 50 private persons who then sold it to Hashi Energy Ltd.

Hashi Energy Ltd is said to have charged the grabbed public land to Ecobank for a loan of Ksh.40 million but defaulted payment, hence the bank was set to auction the land on Friday.

Olkalou High Court Judge Charles Kariuki ruled in favour of the Commission and issued orders prohibiting Ecobank and Hashi Energy Ltd from selling, charging, alienating, auctioning or disposing of the land pending the hearing of the EACC case.

"That an order be and is hereby issued prohibiting the Respondents jointly and severally, their agents, servants or any other persons from selling, charging, alienating, auctioning, transferring, disposing or in any other way dealing with the parcels of land," read court documents.

EACC had filed an application under a certificate of urgency seeking to bar Eco Bank and Hashi Energy Limited from interfering with the land until an active case concerning it is heard and determined.

The Commission seeks to recover the land and return it to the public, and warned that those who participate in the auction risk being conned as no particular person can claim ownership of the land.

The case will be heard on September 19, 2024.