The anti-graft agency Monday obtained court orders rescuing Laikipia County Commissioner from imminent eviction by a private developer in Nanyuki Town.
The alleged developer had fenced the County Commissioner’s Residence and was to evict the County Commissioner when the orders came out.
The land initially measured 38 acres but has since been grabbed leaving only four acres for the County Commissioner.
According to officials, the property is part of government land valued at over Sh6 billion that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is recovering in Nanyuki.
In the same town, EACC has placed restrictions on 50 government plots pending investigations.
The orders will remain in force for six months to allow the conclusion of investigations for recovering the 38-acre piece of land initially set aside for the County Commissioner’s residence before it was subsequently grabbed and reduced to the current size of four acres.
The preservation orders were issued by Lady Justice Kossy Borr Monday, December 19, 2022, following an application filed by EACC under a Certificate of Urgency before the Nanyuki Environment and Land Court, to rescue the County Commissioner’s residence from demolition by the private developer.
The developer has been constructing a perimeter fence around the residence.
Investigations established that private developers have, in collusion with land officials, fraudulently acquired titles to the land which originally measured 38 acres, and has been reduced to just four acres. The grabbers have been threatening to demolish the County Commissioner’s residence for some days now.
Nanyuki town has in the recent past faced an unprecedented wave of land grabbing, threatening to turn the hitherto well-planned, green and beautiful town into a jungle.
A cartel of entrenched land grabbers targeting public land has descended in Nanyuki town, wiping out almost all government land that had been set aside for public utilities.
In addition to grabbing land from almost all public institutions in Nanyuki town, the grabbers have embarked on forceful occupation while issuing threats of eviction to government officers.
Investigations have revealed that the Laikipia County Commissioner’s residence, the County Administration Police (AP) Commander, The Judiciary Houses, the Deputy County Commissioner’s, and other adjacent government houses have been grabbed by private developers in collusion with land officials.
Also affected by grabbing are the Flight Approach paths used by the military, sewer systems, the road reserves, KeRRA and KENHA hards, Nanyuki Prisons land, the Nanyuki Chief’s Camp, the Governor’s residence, the Nanyuki Law Courts, Nanyuki High School and Nanyuki Polytechnic.
On December 1, 2022, while addressing a Multi-Agency Consultative Meeting on the land problem in Nanyuki Town, Laikipia County Governor, Joshua Irungu, noted that the structures on the military approach path posed serious security risks to the residents and also compromised national security.
In the same meeting, the County Commissioner said the grabbers have been roaming in town telling everybody who cares to listen, including the County Commissioner, that his days of occupancy of the official residence were numbered.
“To make good their threat, the grabbers started fencing off the residence, carrying on with the works day and night. The same grabbers forcefully evicted Critical Infrastructure Protection Police Officers, based at Nanyuki Muthaiga Camp, paving way for demolition. The success in evicting security installation emboldened the grabbers, who now operate with unrivaled impunity.”
