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Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is on the spot over transactions involving land belonging to several airports and which could cost the government losses running into billions of shillings.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has raised concern that a number of pieces of land that some airports are sitting have double title deeds.

In some cases, the acreage of the land is not known while in some, part of the land has been grabbed.

Gathungu says in a report for the year ending June 2021 that she is not able to verify the authenticity of some of the titles the authority is in possession of.

Tabled in the National Assembly last month, the report says parcels of land owned by the authority and are in dispute include Nairobi Embakasi, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Wilson Airport, Malindi airport, airports, airstrips and staff quarters as well as parcels in Isiolo and Garissa airstrips.

The other matters in question are properties worth Sh6.3 billion in respect to freehold and leasehold land in Embakasi, Kisumu International Airport and Moi International Airport.

“However examination of the land balances and the supporting records revealed unsatisfactory observations in relation to the said leases,” reads the report.

Illegal structures

Gathungu reveals that an unregistered land measuring 0.867 acres at Embakasi village valued at Sh4.3 million had not been incorporated in the leasehold balance.

She notes that information made available to them shows that the authority obtained partial allotment for the parcel of land measuring 0.443 acres from the National Land Commission (NLC) on September 25 2017 while the remaining 0.47 hectares had been illegally excised and allocated to a third party.

“Although management wrote to the commission requesting for investigation of the illegal excision, there was no evidence of follow up and the outcome,” reads the report.

On JKIA, the report shows that two parcels of land within the airport were excised and allocated to third parties who later proceeded to subdivide, resell and develop the land parcels despite court proceedings being instituted and temporary orders being issued restraining the third parties from any transaction.

“To vacate the land, the authority demolished the illegal structures in 2011. The private developers subsequently sued the authority and the case is still pending in court,” adds Gathungu.

At Wilson Airport, Gathungu,though the size and value of land is yet to be determined, a case challenging the registration was filed in the High Court by third parties seeking orders to restrain the authority or agents from demolishing or interfering with the ownership of the land.

She states that although the management had indicated that it wrote to NLC on October 24, 2017 requesting its intervention and revoking of the title issued irregularly, no action had been taken and ownership of the property remained in dispute.

Eight airports

On Malindi airport, she reveals that the leasehold land balance includes two portion of land, one measuring 0.8925 hectares, which was irregularly allocated to a church organization and another measuring 0.0549 hectares was also irregularly allocated to a petroleum company and had not been excluded from the reported leasehold land balance.

On land parcels at Isiolo and Garissa airstrips, she notes that land measuring 253.61 hectares and 47.15 hectares of undetermined value in the said airstrips were also excluded from the property, plant and equipment.

She says that a review of the records and correspondences relating to the authority’s land revealed ownership disputes affecting 85 parcels of land at eight airports/airstrips yet the management failed to provide details on the nature and the value of land in despite as well as the parties involved and their current status.

On the Sh6.3 billion properties, she noted that the leasehold land at Embakasi excludes land of undetermined value measuring 3.9 acres located at Nairobi-Embakasi village.

On Kisumu International Airport, she  notes that the authority had two title deeds for the said airport but with different acreage measuring 206.09 and 362.9 hectares.