[Source: Daily Nation, by Dominic Wabala]
An investigation by anti-corruption detectives has revealed fresh details on the controversial allocation of land at the coast to powerful individuals for a fraction of the market rate.
A June 13 report by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) prepared for a parliamentary committee revealed that ministers, MPs, judicial officers and prominent business people were allocated the 990 acres of Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) Kiswani land in Sabaki ward, Magarini Constituency, for a pittance.
According to the investigators, when questioned about the illegal allocations, ADC presented to EACC, a document titled “Note for the file” dated January 17, 1994 authored by the then managing director Walter Kilele (now deceased).
The alleged document indicates that Kilele presented the ADC Kiswani Holding Grounds case to former President Daniel arap Moi, in which permission was granted to sell the land at the best possible market price of between Sh250,000 and Sh300,000 per acre.
ADC then proceeded to sub divide the land into five acre blocks but instead allocated them to 125 persons at a paltry Sh20,000 per acre.
ADC processed title deeds for the parcels of land and some allottees subsequently sold the land and transferred the titles to new owners.
However, local residents did not allow the purchasers to take possession of the land claiming ancestral ownership and that they should have been given priority. They have since petitioned the parliamentary land committee that is investigating the matter.
As at November 2010, ADC confirmed that it had only received Sh41.3 million from those allocated.
ADC has until now not provided any records of deliberations and approval for disposal and sub division of the land to the investigators.
It, however, provided EACC with some copies of applications for allotment, allotment letters, application and consent from the Land Control Board and a schedule of the 125 allottees. This includes land registration number, acreage and amounts paid.
EACC is seeking the revocation of the allocations after initial investigations revealed that procedures were not followed and little paperwork is available on how the allocation was done.
[Full article: Daily Nation, by Dominic Wabala]
