Two lands officials arrested for soliciting bribe as EACC intensifies crackdown

The two lands officers arrested in Kajiado for demanding Sh148,000 bribe to process title deeds.

Two lands officers are currently facing investigations for allegedly soliciting a bribe exceeding Sh140,000 to release title deeds.

The two officials, identified by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) as Sheila Nandako, the Deputy Land Registrar at Kisamis, Kajiado and Washington Wahome, another officer working under her are accused of demanding a Sh148,000 bribe to aid a land transaction.

"The arrest of the two land officials is part of ongoing operations by the Commission across the country to tame and disrupt corruption at service delivery points where citizens are routinely subjected to extortion by corrupt public officials," the anti-graft body said in a statement.

The duo is also accused of extorting money from unsuspecting members of the public on separate occasions.

"The Deputy Land Registrar has allegedly directly and indirectly through the named officer been extorting money from citizens seeking facilitation of land transactions," said EACC.

They were arrested on Thursday, November 30, and booked at the Kilimani Police Station.

They are however out on police bail pending further investigations.

Their arrests come in the back of an ongoing crackdown by the EACC to rid of corrupt officers frustrating service delivery to Kenyans.

The anti-graft body, which has conducted several arrests recently stated that the Kajiado lands office has notoriously recorded several complaints of corruption in land transactions.

A fortnight ago, EACC exposed a land-grabbing scandal in Mombasa County, where public property worth more than Sh10 billion has been illegally acquired by private entities.