[Source: Daily Nation, by Brian Wasuna]
The anti-graft watchdog is pursuing a third separate charge against former National Land Commission (NLC) boss Muhammad Swazuri.
Prof Swazuri is accused of inflating a compensation package and using a company owned by suspected fake gold peddler Zaheer Jhanda to collect kickbacks from a church group, Clarence Matheny Leadership Training Institute.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives believe that Prof Swazuri and other NLC and Kenya Railways officials used Mr Jhanda’s Altana Corporation to receive bribes from a little known church group whose land was compulsorily acquired for the Standard Gauge Railway’s (SGR) route.
Deputy Director of Valuation and Taxation Joash Oindo and his boss Salome Munubi are also on the anti-graft watchdog’s radar over the Ongata Rongai land saga.
The NLC last year agreed to pay Clarence Matheny Leadership Training Institute (CMLTI) Sh927.8 million for a piece of land in Ongata Rongai that was compulsorily acquired for the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway.
China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) Limited, which was hired by Kenya Railways to put up Phase 2A of the Standard Gauge Railway, has already taken possession of the land.
CMLTI had asked the Kajiado High Court to bar Kenya Railways or its contractor from taking possession of the land until compensation for the property is released in full, but court proceedings have revealed that construction is already underway with CCCC on site.
Anti-graft detectives also hold that NLC illegally agreed to pay CMLTI Sh98 million as professional fees, relocation and alternative accommodation fees, which is not provided for in Kenya’s laws on compulsory acquisition of land.
[Full article: Daily Nation, by Brian Wasuna]
