The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has recovered 31 acres of grabbed public land in Kwale.
According to EACC chief executive Twalib Mbarak, the land that sits on the scenic Chale Island had been grabbed by private developers. It is worth Sh1.2 billion.
"The Island is gazetted as a marine reserve and national monument of historical and cultural interest," Mbarak said.
The EACC boss who spoke at the Kaya Shrines on Monday said the grabbed land was subdivided into 49 parcels and allocated to ghost squatters, who later sold it to private developers.
With the recovery, the Kaya shrines at Chale Island have been restored to the Kwale community to rebuild their cultural identity.
Similarly, the preservation of Chale Island as a marine national reserve will continue under the Kenya Wildlife Service.
The land was recovered following the nullification of the transactions leading to the land acquisition by Lady Justice Addreya Dena.
"In her judgment in the recovery suit delivered on October 2, 2023, Lady Justice Addreya Dena of the Kwale Environment and Land Court nullified all the transactions leading to the illegal land transfers and ordered the Kwale District Land Registrar to cancel all illegal entries in the Register," Mbarak said.
He further cautioned against re-grabbing the recovered Island, which he said was done in collaboration with corrupt public officials.
Mbarak noted that they have been experiencing cases of corrupt public officials colluding with new grabbers to fraudulently re-allocate recovered public assets.
He said that such would not be entertained.
The Chale Island recovery comes barely two weeks after the anti-graft body announced the recovery of five acres of prime government land with 20 houses estimated to be worth Sh345 million.
EACC said the land, belonging to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development within Nakuru Town Centre, had been grabbed by individuals through private companies and proxies.
The commission is pursuing other grabbed public property in the county, mainly constituting agricultural land, road reserves, land reserved for expansion of state agencies and government houses for civil servants.