This archive report was first published on 6 October 2019.
On October 3, 2019, Trusted Society of Human Rights Alliance Chairperson Elijah Sikona and his secretary George Ole Narok addressed the press in Nakuru. They were discussing a land deal involving the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and a company allegedly linked to Deputy President William Ruto.
The State lost Sh180 million in the former Vice President Joseph Murumbi's expansive land deal. According to documents sent by Trusted Society of Human Rights Alliance to investigative agencies, AFC undervalued the parcel of land, single-sourced a buyer, and hurriedly disposed of the property.
Documents produced in court by Murumbi's family in a suit they lost against AFC indicate that the land was sold at Sh65,000 per acre. However, the lobby group claims that the September 2015 deal between AFC and North Morgor Holdings was suspect since the property was undeniably undervalued.
“I am also a resident of the area and by 2015 an acre of land was valued at Sh250,000. Today, land prices in the same area average Sh800,000 per acre. Thus the State lost Sh185,000 in every acre sold, translating to Sh180,560,000,” Sikona said.
The lobby group wants the investigative agencies to compel the AFC management to produce land valuation documents that were used in the deal. They also want the Public Accounts Committee to probe whether the full amount of Sh63 million which was to be cleared within 90 days was actually paid and to which accounts it was deposited.
Published on October 6, 2019, in The Standard.
