This archive report was first published on 4 August 2020.
Published on August 4, 2020, a Kenyan court has dealt a significant blow to private companies that had taken over 53-acres of land worth Sh5 billion from the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD).
Justice Elijah Obaga ruled that former Commissioner of Lands Wilson Gachanja acted outside his powers when he alienated the government land and allocated it to five companies.
The companies, Beacon Towers Ltd, Hillbrow Properties Ltd, Brentwood Traders Ltd, Varun Industrial Credit Ltd, and Pamba Properties Ltd, had developed and constructed multi-billion shilling structures on the land.
However, Justice Obaga revoked the titles issued to the companies, citing that the titles were irregularly acquired. He also found that all the five companies had the same directors and that there was suspicion on how their letters of grants were processed in a record two days on January 12 and 13, 1998.
According to the judge, the former Commissioner of Lands abused and exceeded his powers, and that his action of aiding land grabbers was tainted with illegalities after he failed to safeguard public properties.
Justice Obaga ordered the Registrar of Lands to amend its records to show that the land belongs to KMD, and the companies will lose their multi-billion shilling investments.
