The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered parcels of land forming parts of the idyllic Chale Island in Kwale County which it says were fraudulently hived off.
This follows last week’s court ruling, which determined that the land had been unlawfully seized by a group of private investors.
Justice Addraya Dena, sitting in Kwale, ruled that Chale Island is not available for allocation and that EACC, on a balance of probability, proved its case against the defendants.
Chale Island is a tropical haven with mangrove forests and green coral reefs as its lush green vegetation, and for discerning tourists, this exclusive sandy island is the absolute dream location.
The recovery was through 32 civil suits filed in the Kwale Environment and Land Court against Manmohan Kaur Kalsi, Director of Swahili Beach Resorts, and others.
The EACC says the recovered 32-acre piece of land with an estimated value of more than Sh1.2 billion belonged to the government and sits on a marine national reserve under the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the National Museums of Kenya (NMK).
Part of the recovered parcel of land is Kaya Forest, which is regarded by the locals as the abodes of ancestors, is revered as sacred, and, as such, is maintained by councils of elders.
EACC Chief Executive Officer CEO Maj. (Rtd.) Twalib Mbarak says they have successfully prosecuted and won a case it filed in 2020 at the Environment and Land Court in Kwale, where it sought an order directing the land registrar to rectify by cancelling all entries related to the issuance of title deeds over the parcels of land on the scenic island.
Mbarak termed asset recovery through the judicial process a milestone in the fight against land grabbers and cartels in the country.
According to Mbarak, the recovered land had been subdivided and allocated to ghost squatters alleged to be members of the Kinondo Chale Settlement Scheme, who later sold it to private investors.
The EACC CEO, who was accompanied by EACC Commissioner in Charge of Asset Recovery Colonel (Rtd) Alfred Mshimba, was addressing the media at Chale Island in the company of Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani, Senator Issa Boi, and KWS Senior Assistant Director Coast Conservation Area John Wambua.
“As EACC, we are determined to fast-track the recovery of stolen public assets and properties across the country and the prosecution of corruption cases,” he said, adding that the commission will be restoring all unlawfully acquired land to its rightful owners.
Mbarak called for cooperation from the national and county governments and other stakeholders to hasten the recovery process of all stolen public assets in the hands of unscrupulous individuals.
He says the EACC will go after land-grabbers who adopt different strategies to usurp an asset or create litigation and continue to flourish in the country.
Mbarak says the menace of land-grabbing is severe in prime and developing areas where the business of the land mafia has grown by leaps and bounds.
“Whenever we recover properties, the land grabbers and cartels hibernate but often operate from behind the scenes, and we shall be alert to their nefarious activities given the perverseness of corruption in the country,” he said.
Mbarak says the EACC will sustain the current tempo against land grabbing by stepping up its game and working harder to stem the tide of wanton land grabbing in the country.
Governor Achani commended the EACC for its efforts and committed to ensuring that all government and public property are safeguarded for posterity.
She thanked the EACC for their efforts in recovering the grabbed land and assured area residents that, under her leadership, all government and public land in the county will be shielded from grabbers.
The coastal county chief says the devolved government will fully support the anti-corruption commission in efforts to recover other public parcels of land in Kwale that were illegally acquired by private developers.
Achani says her administration will support EACC’s renewed anti-corruption drive, which she says is seeing stolen land assets returned to the public.
“My administration’s hallmark would be zero tolerance for corruption,” she said, calling on the EACC to sustain the war on land grabbing.
By Hussein Abdullahi
