After 13 years of back-and-forth litigation in court, a piece of land set aside for police housing at Karatina Police Station in Nyeri County is now back in government custody. The anti-corruption body confirmed that the 0.074-acre piece of land valued at KSh 12 million is now back in government custody after a long period of litigation.
The piece of land was listed as Karatina Municipality/Block II/383 and was set aside for police housing but was illegally excised and sold to a private owner. It was established that officials from the Ministry of Lands illegally allocated the land to a private owner without following due process on the part of the government.
A survey conducted by the government in 1998 identified two development plans for the land: one for a police station currently built on a portion of it and another for a residential plot. The residential plot was illegally allocated to a private owner who later sold it to another person who acquired a valid title deed to a piece of land belonging to another person illegally.
The EACC intervened on May 14, 2013, when it filed a case to recover the land. After 13 years of litigation, a consent agreement was reached to record a consent to have the land returned to the Government for its intended use as police housing.
EACC termed it a “significant win for public accountability and the protection of government assets,” bringing to a conclusion a 13-year journey to recover public property from illegal allocation.
The piece of land is set to be developed to accommodate police personnel for housing purposes.
