The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has suffered a major setback after the Environment and Land Court dismissed its bid to reclaim a contested parcel of land in Kisii town allegedly owned by former Cabinet Minister Prof. Sam Ongeri.
In a ruling delivered by Justice Munyo Sila, the court found no evidence to support EACC’s claim that the land was public property reserved for the Kisii Municipal Market.
EACC had sued Prof. Ongeri alongside former Lands Commissioner James Raymond Njenga, accusing them of illegally acquiring the plot.
Justice Sila ruled that the commission failed to prove that the allocation of the land was fraudulent or that the property was originally public.
He noted that although the EACC argued the plot was occupied by vegetable vendors, their presence alone was not sufficient to establish the land as public.
“It was, of course, mentioned that the plot hosts vegetable vendors. I was not told when the vegetable vendors took possession, i.e. whether before or after the allocation of the plot,” the judge said. “The mere presence of vegetable vendors on a plot does not make it public land. The presence of the vegetable vendors is a problem for the first defendant (Ongeri) to deal with.”
The commission had filed two separate cases against Ongeri and Njenga, which the court consolidated before delivering its final judgment.
