Questions have emerged over the ownership of 74 acres of land where the SGR terminus in Nairobi sits after lawmakers were informed that the land could have been irregularly acquired.

The claims came after MPs were informed that the right documentation such as titles or allotment letters cannot be traced.

The land in question was acquired by Kenya Railways Commission (KRC) from Dupoto/Darfur settlement welfare scheme

The new revelation emerged on the day the Lawmakers announced that they had also opened a probe on another 55 acres of land occupied by the SGR and which KRC still acquired from the Dupoto/Darfur settlement welfare scheme at a cost of Sh 2.7 billion without following the due process.

Letter of interest

MPs who sit in the lands committee chaired by North Mugirango MP Joash Nyamoko were shocked to learn that KRC agreed to buy the land from the scheme based on a letter of interest from the scheme chairman Likam Ole Kiambu who approached KRC on behalf of his members to have them buy their land after they heard that they were looking for land for SGR.

The Dupoto/Darfur settlement welfare scheme owned both the 75 acres and the 55 acres as they were part of the Nairobi block land number 125/2173 situated in Embakasi, Nairobi County measuring 93 acres.

At a meeting with the scheme owners led by Ole Kiambu, the MPs heard that the land had been under the scheme’s possession through allotment letters since 1958, and that it had is currently in the process of acquiring title deeds for the 74 acres to enable them cost it so that they can get paid by KRC.

Said Ole Kiambu: “The total acreage of the land was 168 but later Kenya Railways took seventy-four acres…the payment for the 74 acres is what we are now pursuing. At the time we were not compensated for a lack of documents. The area is what is now occupied by the SGR.”

Current status

Ole Kiambu’s response came after Kaloleni MP Paul Katana sought to know the current status of the land following the current dispute.

Katana also sought to know how the scheme owners paid out the Sh 2.7 billion and the criteria they used.

He posed: “So, you are telling this committee that the 74 acres of land is where the terminus sits and Kenya Railways took it without necessary documents and that the probability of you getting paid is fifty, fifty?.

His counterpart, Kilome MP Thuddeas Kithua claimed that the current cry from people is because some of them claim that they were not compensated and thus are seeking to have their money paid.

He said: “The noise you hear today is not new. I know members (of your scheme) who say they did not receive any payment despite having certificates. If you don’t harmonize this it will not work. I know more than 10 members who are waiting to get the funds.”

The new details emerged even as documents tabled before the committee raised concerns that members of the welfare could have been forcefully evicted from the said piece despite having lived in the land for decades while others were unjustly compensated with as little as Sh50,000.

The aggrieved scheme members the documents show also claimed that their forceful eviction led to a loss of land rendering many of them homeless, and that the inhumane eviction by the authorities failed to adhere to legal and procedural requirements governing compulsory acquisitions. Further they alleged that the compensation funds were fraudulently allocated to political figures and law firms benefitting at their expense.

Reads the documents: “the members welfare scheme asserts that they have on numerous attempts tried to seek justice, including filing lawsuits and petitions with various investigative agencies but none yielded positive outcomes. They further allege that the compensation funds were fraudulently allocated to political figures and several law firms at their expense.”

Following the move Nyamoko said that the committee would get into the bottom of the matter to ascertain how KRC bought land worth billions of shillings based  on the strength of a letter from Ole Kiambu.

To this end Nyamoko said that they will summon the KRC chairperson, the National Land Commission, the Ministry of lands as well as demanded that all the minutes shared between the scheme owners and KIRC be forwarded to them.

He said: “we want to meet KRC. We want to establish how KRC was moved by a letter to spend Sh 2.7 billion just because Ole Kiambu wrote to them. We want to understand this.”

He further directed that MPs to conduct a field visit and physically inspect the land to ascertain its current status, occupation and any ongoing developments as well as ordered the Ministry of Lands to within 14 days, conduct an investigation of the records at the Land Registry and provide information on the real owners of land.

The ministry of land, he said, should also determine whether the affected parties were fairly and justly compensated for the loss of their property In line with legal provisions and market value rates.

He said: “What we will be seeking to establish is what was the exact amount disbursed by the Kenya Railways for the compensation of the members of the Welfare Scheme? Was the compensation fully accounted for?”