Parliament has recommended payment of Sh320 million for compulsory acquisition of land on which PC Kinyanjui Technical Training Institute sits on.
In what is meant to end years of ownership tussle with the Orthodox Church, MPs threw their weight behind compulsory acquisition of the prime parcel belonging to the church.
The training institute is a public institution that has been sitting on land owned by the Greek Orthodox Church, which is a private organisation.
Whereas the church has no problem hosting the training institute, the Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has raised queries on how public funds are being committed to private property.
In its effort to secure a title deed for the institute, the management filed a case in court which was ruled in favour of the church.
But in its report, Public Investment Committee on Governance and Education committee now directs Attorney General Justin Muturi to initiate compulsory acquisition to put an end to the stalemate.
The committee chaired by Bumula MP Wanami Wamboka said the institute being a public institution is required under Technical and Vocational Education and Training Act of 2013 is mandated to posses its own title deed.
“The committee recommends that the Office of the Attorney-General commences the process of compulsory acquisition as provided for in the Constitution of Kenya under Article 40(3) and the Public Land Act 2012,” the report directs.
Compulsory acquisition is where the government obtains private property from an individual or a business entity for use in activities of public interest.
According to Wamboka-led committee, it is only after acquiring land ownership documents that taxpayers’ money can be committed to the development of its infrastructure.
While appearing before the oversight committee last year, Muturi also recommended compulsory acquisition of the land.
“My proposal is for the government to apply the constitution for compulsory acquisition. That is the only option,” Muturi told the committee.
In her 2019-20 audit report, Gathungu raised the ownership tussle, prompting the National Assembly’s Public Investment Committee on Governance and Education to take over the matter.
“The statement of financial position and as disclosed to the financial statements reflects property, plant and equipment balance of Sh805,998,976 as at June, 2020. Included in this balance is land valued at at Sh320,000,000 for which the institute does not have a title deed, ” the auditor says in her report.
The land in now Dagoretti South constituency was given to the church in 1972 by the founding President Jomo Kenyatta in a 99-year lease agreement as a gesture of good diplomatic relations.
Then Cyprus's president doubled as the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church.
“The understanding between the two governments was that the Republic of Cyprus was to construct a school for the community on one part of the said property and church on the other part,” reads part of Muturi's submissions.
Along the way the state sought to acquire the part hosting the public institute, a request that the church declined.
“The archbishop refused and or neglected to sign the mutation forms to enable the director of survey to initiate subdivision of the said property,” documents tabled in Parliament read.
