Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has recovered 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.
“Currently, in Nakuru County alone, EACC has civil cases active in Court seeking recovery of grabbed property amounting to over Sh7 billion,” EACC said.
The instant recovery of the Ministry of Housing land was through a civil suit filed by EACC against three individuals.
“The grabbed but now recovered property, known as Land Parcel Number Nakuru Municipality Block 5/221, had been planned, reserved and used for Government housing,” the commission said.
The government residential quarters are popularly known as St. Xavier Estate and are located off Oginga Odinga Avenue, along Gusii Road and adjacent to St. Xavier School.
The Judgement in favour of EACC was issued by Justice Mwangi Njoroge of the Nakuru Environment and Land Court on 22 September 2023.
Njoroge nullified all the transactions leading to the illegal transfer of the land.
He cancelled all illegal entries in the Nakuru Register and ordered that the property be registered in the name of the Permanent Secretary to National Treasury, in trust for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, as required under the law.
EACC is currently pursuing the rectification of the Nakuru Land Register by the Registrar to have the illegal entries removed and a new title deed issued in the name of the government.
Once the process is concluded, EACC will hand over the title to the government.
In the judgment, the court upheld EACC submissions that at the time of the allocation, the land was already Government property.
EACC is mandated to trace, recover, and return to the public any corruptly acquired assets or unexplained wealth held by public officials.
Asset recovery is one of the key strategies that the commission has intensified in the fight against corruption.