The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has successfully recovered a road reserve in Mombasa valued at approximately Ksh25 million after the court found that the property had been illegally allocated for private use.
The Environment and Land Court ruled that the parcel, known as Mombasa Municipality/Block XIX/305, was part of a road reserve along Machakos Road and provided access to the University of Nairobi’s Mombasa Campus.
In a judgment delivered on September 24, 2026, Justice Yuvinalis Angima declared the lease issued over the property in 1994 null and void.
The court found that the process used to allocate the land did not comply with the law governing the closure and disposal of public roads.
Justice Angima also directed the Chief Land Registrar to cancel the lease entries relating to the property.
The Director of Surveys was similarly ordered to cancel and expunge the survey plan that had been used to create the parcel.
EACC investigations
The case was brought to court by EACC following investigations into the allocation of the land, which had been reserved for public use.
According to the commission, the road reserve had been excised from Machakos Road and allocated to the late Ezekiel Luyali, who was a councillor in the then Municipal Council of Mombasa.
EACC also linked the allocation to David Kalume Randu, who was the Town Clerk, and Ahmed Mwidhani, who served as Mayor at the time.
The commission said the two officials unlawfully facilitated the allocation of the public land.
Records presented in court showed that a lease was issued on September 1, 1994, and registered the following day.
The purported 99-year lease was backdated to take effect from June 1, 1994.
However, the court found that there was no evidence that the legal process required to close the road had been followed.
This included the publication of Gazette notices notifying the public of the intention to close the road.
The court also found that there was no valid and approved Part Development Plan, Council or committee resolution authorising the allocation.
There was also no evidence of approval by the Minister for Local Government for the 99-year alienation of the road reserve.
“The allocating authority had no legal authority to allocate part of a public road (Machakos Street) for commercial cum residential purposes under the legal regime in force at the material time,” Justice Angima ruled.
Court restores public land
The court consequently found that the 1994 alienation of the road reserve was illegal and fraudulent.
Justice Angima granted EACC’s application to recover the property and restore it to its intended public purpose.
However, the judge declined to order vacant possession of the land.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that the property had not been developed and was still being used as a public parking lot.
The court also issued permanent orders preventing the current holder of the property, including their servants, agents and assigns, from selling, leasing, transferring, charging or otherwise dealing with the parcel.
The ruling effectively restores the road reserve to its intended public use after more than three decades since it was allocated in 1994.
