Inside story of Sh200m bribe claims being probed by DCI

Flashy Kisii politician Merlahi Jhanda is no ordinary businessman.

When we met him yesterday, he checked in with the latest version of luxury Lexus LX570. He placed a new iPhone on the table and ordered a cold soft drink.

In the short meeting to respond to allegations of being the front of National Land Commission (NLC) Chairman Mohamed Swazuri, the man who boasts acquaintance with Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko described himself as a ‘victim.’

During our interview, he received at least six phone calls, four from prominent personalities among them a senator and a billionaire fighting his own land compensation battles in the city. Parking attendants were calling him mhesh, short form of mheshimiwa.

There was no doubt that he is well-connected. He came armed with all documents necessary to prove his case, the ones he hopes to hand over to sleuths at the Directorate of Criminal investigations (DCI).

The man being mentioned in a Sh200 million bribery allegation was at hand to give a rare peek into the murky world of kickbacks that have characterised the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) land compensation scheme.

He is the director of Atlana Corporation, which he co-owns with his wife. He describes himself as a hustler who in 2016 entered a consultancy deal with Clarence Matheny Leadership Training Institute.
His job was to use his ‘negotiation skills’ to help the church get the best deal from the SGR billions. Initial estimates had valued the land at Sh600 million, but by the stroke of his magic, the church was to receive upward of Sh927million.

“The consultant undertakes to perform the following services, following up with valuation of the property, ensuring that the valuation is a true and fair reflection of the value of the property, following up with the award,” the contract seen by Sunday Standard reads.

The contract adds that he was also to oversee the lawful implementation of the compulsory acquisition, ensure that the institution is expeditiously and lawfully compensated as well as communication with third party services.

This simply left the whole process in his hands. For his trouble, he was to walk away with 15.3 per cent of the award amount. This translated to about Sh141 million. It was supposed to be a straight forward deal. Get the money, get your cut and go. The church was okay with this deal. And it signed it, giving it legal force.       

But after the church got its award, hell broke loose. Correspondence from text messages and letters in his possession suggest that one party from the church was pushing for a 50-50 sharing of the proceeds from the deal while Jhanda, wanted a bigger piece of the cake. The church threw the first salvo this week when it accused Jhanda of being a front to NLC chairman to extort money from it to smoothen the way.

According to a letter penned by Bishop Joel Chola, who is the executive director of Clarence Matheny Leadership, the church alleges that NLC officials first asked for a bribe of up to Sh200 million before they could process their compensation money for a parcel of land they surrendered for the construction of the SGR.

This amount was later revised downwards. Clarence Matheny Leadership Training Institute is based in Ongata Rongai. Bishop Joel Chola wrote to the DCI accusing one NLC official and Mr Jhanda of abuse of office, blackmail, intimidation, threats, false representation and frustrating compensation payment to solicit undue funds.

The letter from the church has been accompanied by an audio recording in which some of the allegations touching on a middle man allegedly sent to negotiate the bribe money is captured.

But to throw the spanner in the works, Jhanda has turned the guns on NLC Vice Chairperson Abigael Mbagaya, who is fighting her own battles with her boss at the commission. He claims Mbagaya asked him for a share of the moneys.

But Mbagaya swiftly shot back, saying she will not be drawn into fights from “fraudsters” who are “enemies of the commission.”

“I will only be guided by the law and the court orders on this matter. I know people were not happy when we decided that the law must be followed,” she said.

Bishop Chola says his organisation are the owners of a parcel of land in Ngong which lies squarely on the SGR corridor Phase 2A.

“We were informed formally of the compulsory acquisition on November 10, 2017. We obliged to the acquisition and promised to support the national project to the full,” he narrates.

Chola says his church employed professional valuers in July 2017 and a legal firm to advise and guide the process of compulsory acquisition.

He adds that they were formally requested on January 3, 2018 to allow the Chinese construction company to begin building pillars on their property, since their land would house the super bridge that contained 17 pillars.

“We agreed and work began on our property,” he narrates.

His institution filed a formal application for compensation in February last year from the NLC at a meeting where several officials were present including its lawyer, and a surveyor from Kenya Railways.   

He would later meet Mr Jhanda, who introduced himself as the personal assistant to the NLC chairman, on April 9 at the NLC offices.

“Mr Jhanda was present throughout the meeting and after that, he took myself and our lawyer to a separate meeting and told us very clearly that he had been sent to talk to us,” he adds.

Bishop Chola says Jhanda threatened that they would not be given their compensation unless they were willing to sign an agreement to pay his company some consultation fees.

The recording suggests that a man in the meeting was saying that no one in government could help them, including the head of state.

The institution would later make its claim on April 10 after which they were asked to wait for their award. Bishop Chola claims that about eight days later, Jhanda called him and showed their award for compensation but told him it will not be given to them until they were willing to sign an agreement to give them Sh200 million.

“I declined. We were then called  the next day taken to the chairman’s office, where he told us that our award had been withdrawn,” Bishop Chola adds. He would later go back to the NLC where he was given a copy of their award letter of their parcel valued at Sh914million. But in May, they were told the amount had been revised from Sh200 million to Sh140 million.

“The conversation was coded where he referred to it as 14 lessos,” the bishop added.