The National Land Commission (NLC) says it has a backup of the crucial data in a computer that disappeared from its offices on Sunday.
Prosecutors were to rely on the evidence in the computer in a case in which NLC Chairman Muhamad Swazuri, former Kenya Railways managing director Atanas Maina and 13 others are charged with irregular compensation for land..
The computer went missing just a day before Sh 7.2 billion for the compensation of land being acquired for the Nairobi-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway project was disbursed.
A source told the Nation on Monday that data in the computer, housed at the NLC’s Department of Valuation and Taxation, had no backup, meaning the new developments would effectively throw verification of the compensation payments in limbo.
In a statement to newsrooms on Tuesday, the commission pointed out that the theft did not occur in the office of Mr Swazuri.
Communication Director Khalid Salim acknowledged the loss of the CPU in one of the computers within the directorate, that it said contained “some operational data”
He said, however, that the NLC is not the only custodian of compulsory land acquisition and compensation data, and the same information is also available at the respective acquiring entity.
Mr Salim added that since the stolen data is still available with the NLC backup system, the loss will not, in any way, affect the operations of the commission.
The official noted that the integrity of the NLC’s procedures and matters related to compensation remains.
The incident, he said, was reported at Kilimani Police Station on December 17, under occurrence book reference no 56/17/12/2018, and investigations launched.
The computer is believed to hold crucial data connected to the case in which Prof Swazuri and the others are accused of irregularly compensating land owners for the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR phase, which was completed in June 2017.
The courts had allowed Prof Swazuri to resume work despite fears by the prosecution that this could jeopardise the case.
Detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission said they were yet to confirm whether some of the missing records relate to investigations at the NLC.
[Article source: Daily Nation, by Brian Okinda]
