The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has recovered a piece of land valued at Sh100 million that had been reserved for the Nyahururu bus park.
The land had according to EACC been irregularly, illegally and unlawfully alienated to favour private individuals.
The parcel has now been reverted to the Laikipia county government.
The commission ascertained that there was unlawful alienation of the land to favour private individuals and lodged the matter at the Nyahururu Environment and Lands Court in an attempt to recover the grabbed land.
Investigations had shown that the land in question had been donated by the Catholic Diocese of Nyeri for the construction of Ngare Naro Primary School in 1972.
However, in 1984 the now defunct Nyandarua County Council working with the then commissioner of lands hived off two acres of the land for the expansion of the Nyahururu bus park with a disclaimer to the school that if the land was not used in the expansion of the bus park it would be reverted to the school.
The Nyandarua County Council working with the then commissioner of lands subdivided the land into 12 portions and letters of allotment issued to private individuals namely James Kimani Mburu, Boniface Mugo Waikwa, John Kahwai Kabucho, Nereah Muthoni Wachira, Francis Muraya Wachira, Gladys Wairimu Kariuki and Wilson Gachanja.
EACC established some of the allottees or their successors in the claim were subsequently issued with leases and certificates of lease in respect of the portions allocated to them.
It further found out that some allottees or their successors in the claim were not issued with leases or certificates of lease.
“There have been several court cases between members of public (in particular, a group of Mitumba Traders) and the persons who were allocated the suit properties,” they said.
According to EACC, under the alternative dispute resolution negotiations, the defendants who were the allottees agreed to voluntarily surrender the title documents to the commission.
The six had already begun developing the parcel of land in a joint venture to construct a shopping mall and were at the foundation stages.
