Getting to the bottom of what happened in Lamu

Kenya: Following President Uhuru Kenyatta’s order for investigations into the alleged irregular allocation of 500,000 acres of public land in Lamu County, a special team of detectives has been picked to handle the matter.

The 10 officers at Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters will report to the Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro as it emerged the National

Land Commission (NLC) will also today begin reviewing the allocations to establish if indeed they were done irregularly.

The matter has quickly become a political tug-of-war, with Jubilee politicians rushing to call for the arrest of, among others, Siaya Senator and former Lands Minister James Orengo.

But Orengo and other Opposition leaders dismissed the claims by Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu, with Orengo saying his hands are clean, challenging the legality of Uhuru’s revocation order and welcoming a separate probe being conducted by the NLC.

Orengo said at the time of the alleged land acquisition, it was only President Kibaki who could allocate public land. Leaders of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) also claimed that Uhuru had no legal or moral authority to order revocation of title deeds.

Land Fraud Investigations Unit head, Peter Etyang, is leading the team tasked with probing how 22 private companies acquired the land through a process the Jubilee government alleges was fraudulent.

Muhoro said investigators hope to finish the probe as soon as possible.

“Land fraud allegations are complicated matters and we are taking our time to ensure the probe is thorough,” said Muhoro.

Sought by police

It emerged that it was senior lands officials in office between 2011 and 2012, during the tenure of Grand Coalition Government who allocated the land under what President Kenyatta described as “dubious and corrupt circumstances,” are being sought by police.

Former Commissioner of Lands Zablon Mabea and former chief Lands Registrar Wambugu Ngatia are among those who have reportedly been grilled.

“I have been to CID headquarters to take the officers through the process and I have told them I didn’t break any law. The right procedures and process was followed,” Mabea told The Standard.

Former Director of Surveys, Ephantus Murage, who was in Ethiopia for official duty, is expected to appear before investigators.

It is not clear if Siaya Senator James Orengo, who served as Lands minister at the time, and Dorothy Angote, who was the Lands PS, would be summoned to record statements following allegations they approved some of the allocations.

Sources who asked not to be quoted due to the sensitivity of the claims said the investigations would include all current and former officers alleged to have been involved. It also emerged most of the files on the land under probe in Lamu have been moved from Ardhi House to CID headquarters.

Another source said the team would recommend various charges to be preferred against those accused before they forward their files to the Director of Public Prosecutions for action.

Meanwhile, the NLC today begins the formal process of investigating the issuance of title deeds to the 500,000 acres of land in Lamu County as directed by the President.

The commission issued a public notice in sections of the dailies today asking anyone with complaints against the allocations to furnish them with information.

The notice, issued by NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri, marks the beginning of a rigorous process that many see as political, to reclaim large swathes of land for the construction of the Lamu Port.

On Friday, Uhuru and Deputy President William Ruto witnessed the signing of the Sh42 billion port project that involves the construction of three berths and is part of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor.

The development came after President Kenyatta met Swazuri, Ngilu and a host of Lamu leaders in State House, and directed the revocation of the titles that lie on land earmarked for the Lapsset project.

The NLC has, however, cast its net wider to cover the entire country rather than limit the probe to Lamu County. “Since its inception, the Commission has received numerous complaints regarding legality of various grants and dispositions. Consequently, the Commission will review the following grants as indicated below,” Swazuri said in the notice published in local dailies today.

Most of the land under probe is, however, in Lamu County. All the 22 companies that were named as beneficiaries of irregular allocations in the county are on the list published by the commission.

“Written representations and documents should be submitted to the Office of Secretary/CEO of the Commission on 12th Floor, Ardhi House by Friday, August 15,” Swazuri adds.

The companies whose title deeds the President announced were revoked are Brick Investment Limited, Rusken International Limited, Mat International, Witu Nyangoro Ranch (DA) Company, Shangai Investments Limited, Fincorp Investments (K) Limited, Kaab Investments, Sheila Ranch limited, Dynamic Trading Co Limited, Savannah Fresh Fruits Exports and Mokowe Kibokoni Ranch Limited.

Others are Panda Nguo Boni Community, Baragoni Boni Community, Khalrala Ranch, Cyberdom Investments, Baragoni Ranch; Enganani Ranch; Lamu Investments; Amu Ranch and Maalim Ranch.

Their directors’ names are largely of Central Kenya and Coast origin.

“If the commission finds that the titles were issued in unlawful manner, the commission shall direct the registrar to revoke the titles. So you cannot just revoke it. Unlawful means no legal process or the legal process was interfered with,” Swazuri explained.

He said the commission may issue caveats (restrictions) on transactions involving the land.

NLC is also investigating land that allegedly belongs to Kakamega Primary School, Westlands Self Help Group, Classic Jua Kali Artisans Tranquility Ltd along Rabai Road, Mombasa Primary, Kabarnet Trading Company Ltd and Sema Health Products in Embakasi. Other parcels are in Kilifi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Machakos, Embu, Nairobi, Kisumu and Trans Nzoia Counties.

Refute claims

Under the law, only the NLC is legally mandated to revoke titles for land whose allocation is established to have been irregular. Some of the owners of the land targeted have come out and stated that they acquired the parcels legally, while others have used them to secure bank loans.

Ngilu claimed at a press conference that her ministry’s investigations had established that the allocations in Lamu were irregular.

But the directors of one of the affected firms, Upeo Ltd and Investments Group, Hamadi Boga, Maimuna Mwidau and Naomi Sidi, refuted claims that they were beneficiaries of allotment of Shela Ranch.

The ranch was mentioned by State House functionaries as the alleged beneficiaries of the land, but they defended themselves saying they legally purchased Shela Ranch from known people.

They said 465 members from the Coast region purchased the chunk of land at Sh108 million in order to invest in the Lapsset project.

“Original owners of Shela Ranch are well known. We were not beneficiaries of any Government or ministerial allocation,” said Ms Naomi Cidi in Mombasa.