EACC to recover Shs10b Mombasa grabbed land

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is seeking to recover Sh10 billion worth of grabbed public property in Mombasa County, Chief Executive Office Twalib Mbarak said yesterday.

Describing Mombasa as one of the counties with “serious land grabbing problems,” Mbarak said the commission was pursuing over 130 active civil cases of stolen public property being heard by various Mombasa courts.

Speaking during site visits to the Sh500 million Hobley Estate in the Buxton area – one of the properties EACC has recovered from grabbers – Mbarak urged the public to remain vigilant and avoid being duped into buying property acquired irregularly.

“As we pursue these cases, we also warn the land officials to resist colluding with corrupt people to grab or re-grab public property. Most of them are facilitating the re-grabbing of the public property that we recover. When we recover, some people are looking forward on how to re-grab,” the Anti-graft commission boss warned in Mombasa.

According to Mbarak, the Sh500 million Hobley Estate property in Buxton belonging to the Ministry of Housing was grabbed by three individuals through “sheer forgery” before it was recovered through a court process.

“It is currently housing County Government employees. The Land Registrar has since cancelled the titles held by the grabbers following the court order,” he stated.

Mbarak told journalists that the recovery of the suit property by EACC was through three civil recovery suits filed on April 2, 2013 against Victor Oceanic Viewers Limited, Nova Holdings and Kalliste Limited.
On June 23, 2022, the Environment and Land Court in Mombasa delivered a judgment in favour of the Commission and ordered the cancellation of all the titles to the three.

The Court further ordered that the land is reverted to its original status before the issuance of the title to the defendants.

The Commission’s investigations established as per an allotment letter dated January 14, 1999, the suit property was illegally alienated and allocated to Victor Oceanic Viewers Limited on a lease basis for a period of 99 years.

Allotment letter

The parcel of land had on them houses that were constructed in 1931 and continue to serve as rental houses for civil servants who pay rent through a check off system. The houses are old and along with other estates are due for redevelopment with modern high-rise development for rental and sale to civil servants.

EACC disclosed that the company that held the allotment letter was not in existence as a legal entity or otherwise capable of holding an interest in land as of January 14, 1999, the date that the said letter is said to have been issued.

In the light of the above, all transactions on the land were therefore null and void.
Mbarak said the suit property was not available for allocation by the then Commissioner of Lands to

Victor Oceanic Viewers Limited, or any other person because it was already public property.
High Court judge, Justice Munyao Sila ruled that EACC had proved that the land was illegally taken away from the State and issued a judgment in favour of the agency.