The county government has ordered an MP to surrender land it says was acquired illegally.
Lands Executive Jacob Tanui said the county had invalidated the title deed, for the three-acre land, and ordered Kesses MP Swarup Mishra to hand the public property back to the devolved unit, within 21 days.
Dr Mishra, who is also the owner of Mediheal Group of Hospitals, intends to build a Sh1.2 billion 100-bed hospital on the contested land.
Mr Tanui, who was addressing a press conference in Kapsabet on Monday, claimed Mishra had fallen victim to unscrupulous individuals who deal in land illegally. He was accompanied by Lands Chief Officer Solomon Mangira.
"We regret that Dr Mishra fell prey to illegal dealers, who grab public and private land for sale to unsuspecting potential investors. He has three weeks to surrender the three-acre property back to the county government; the land is a public property," said Tanui.
He added: "The County is advising Dr Mishra to find an alternative, clean land to put up the hospital investment."
Mishra, however, insisted he was the genuine owner of the property. He said he acquired the land with the full knowledge of Government agencies in 2015 following a call by the county for investors to put up more projects.
"I acquired this land after the 2015 Nandi Investment Conference. There was a call for investors to put up viable investments in Nandi from the previous county government. All State bodies were involved in the process," said Mishra.
The Kesses legislator added: "The land did not have a dispute then. The claims that the land is public property began when the county learnt of my plans to begin construction of a hospital, which I had scheduled for October this year."
