The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has vowed to crack the whip on land grabbers in Nyandarua County and reclaim all grabbed public land in the county.
Speaking in Ol Kalou Town in Nyandarua County during fetes to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day, the EACC Commissioner, Paul Gachoki said that there were rampant cases of public land grabbing in the County, adding the commission would move to reclaim the grabbed public utilities.
The Commissioner revealed that the commission has this year managed to recover parcels of public land belonging to several government institutions.
He said that among the land that the commission has managed to recover, include Shs. 5billion land belonging to the University of Nairobi, an 800-acre piece of land that the government had allocated to former Internally Displaced Persons in Naivasha town and a piece of land belonging to Karatina police station.
“We are warning those who have grabbed public land that the commission will not relent until all grabbed government land is recovered. If you know that you have acquired land illegally consider returning it before we come for you,” warned Commissioner Gachoki.
The Nyandarua Governor, Francis Kimemia who spoke during the event regretted that rampant cases of land grabbing in the County had led to slow growth and development of many towns in the region.
He at the same time, said that the county was probing 500 cases of double allocation of plots in the county to establish the owners adding that at least 1,500 cases have so far been resolved.
Kimemia also urged EACC to intervene and help in recovering of grabbed public land.
Speaking at the same time, the Laikipia Deputy Governor, John Mwaniki also regretted that cases of land grabbing in the country were rampant, alleging that political leaders were behind most cases of land grabbing in Laikipia County.
The Nyandarua County Commissioner (CC), Boaz Cherutich however, urged the residents to volunteer any information linking any suspected person to corruption noting that they had already established a witness protection mechanism.
“The witness protection unit will see that the identity of the witnesses and whistleblowers is confidential and therefore he or she is not threatened by the suspects,” noted Cherutich.
The CC also noted that the fight against cartels in the land registry was on going and vowed to dismantle cartels operating in the land registry.
Cherutich joined other speakers to appeal for unity among elected leaders in the County if development was to be realised in the remaining three years of the current County government tenure.
By David Njoroge
