Ethics and Anti-Corruption body begins process of recovering land

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission EACC has begun the process of recovering a parcel of land in Mombasa worth Sh 380 million that was illegally hived off from Kenya Ports Authority KPA and allocated to a private company.

The anti-graft body said in a case before the Environment and Land Court that the land in the Liwatoni area, which houses the Kenya Fisheries offices, was illegally allocated to Bawazir Glass Works Ltd in 1996.

The parcel was taken over by former Commissioner of Lands Wilson Gacanja in the abuse of power of his office and is now known as Milly Glassworks Ltd.

Despite the purported subdivision, the suit property remains in the name of the Kenya Ports Authority vested in the government of Kenya, EACC says in the court documents.

The land is now being lease from KPA to the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Fisheries Department and the State Department for Fisheries and Blue Economy.

EACC says the alienation and subsequent allocation began with a letter of allotment issued by Mr Gachanja to Bawazir Glass Works Ltd in February 1996, making reference to the land as an un-surveyed light industrial plot in Mombasa.

In 1997, the company was asked to surrender the land to KPA, but the requests were ignored. The anti-graft body accuses the former commissioner of causing the subdivision of the government's land or shutting his eyes despite the fraudulent alienation.

The anti-graft body accuses Mr Gachanja of knowingly and fraudulently giving government land to a private company, despite knowing that it had been reserved for use by KPA.

EACC wants to make a declaration that the sub-division is illegal and for the chief land registrar to cancel a title deed registered to Milly Glassworks ltd.