Apostle Ng'ang'a among five sued by EACC over Sh1.6b land

Pastor James Maina Ng'ang'a of NENO Evangelism Center. [File, Standard]

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has filed several suits at the Environment and Lands Court seeking to recover several parcels of land allegedly grabbed by private developers.

The Commission in a statement through its spokesperson Erick Ngumbi said it has filed four separate cases seeking to recover five parcels of land valued at Sh1.6 billion.

The parcels are located at the junction of Haile Selassie Avenue and Uhuru Highway and are alleged to have been originally alienated for Kenya Railways Corporation.

Among those sued in the cases include private entities and former Commissioners of Land, Neno Evangelism Centre Registered Trustee, Apostle James Maina Nganga, Arts 680 Limited and Kobil Petroleum Limited (Rubis Energy).

Pastor Ng'ang'a and Neno Evangelism have been sued in respect to parcel Number LR. No. 209/9640 and LR. No. 209/12361 valued at Sh480 million and Sh30 million respectively.

Kenya Railways Corporation in November 2023 sued Neno Evangelism Registered Trustees and three others. It named EACC as an interested party. KRC and EACC claim a mesne profit of Sh500 million.

Apostle Ng''anga in August 2023 sued Kenya Railways over land parcel number 209/12361. Kenya Railways filed a defence in September 2023. It also amended its defence, introduced a counterclaim, and joined EACC as a second plaintiff in the counter-claim which was filed in February 2024. EACC and KRC want Ng''anga to pay Sh250 million mesne profit having utilised the land for 25 years.

Arts 680 Limited has been sued in respect to land parcel number LR. No 209/12492 valued at Sh380 million while Kobil Petroleum Limited has been sued in respect to parcels Numbers LR. No. 209/9641 and LR. No. 209/12133 all valued at Sh720 million.

Land parcel No 209/12492 is occupied by Arts Limited, LR. No. 209/9640 (Nganga), LR. No. 209/9641 (Kobil) and LR. No. 209/12361 (Neno Evangelism) EACC claims originally belonged to Kenya Railways Corporation.

In 1953, Kenya Railways allegedly surrendered Land Reference. No. 209/9640 and LR. No. 209/9641 for purposes of construction of the Post and Telecommunication Headquarters. In 1960, Kenya Railways surrendered more land where orbiting the earlier surrender for the construction of a flyover and cloverleaf intersection. The land surrendered in 1960 includes LR. No 209/12492.

No. 209/12361 is a truncation of the road connecting Haile Selassie Avenue to Rhodes Avenue serving Nairobi Central Railway Station, Marshalling Yard, railway residential houses, and other sections of the yard. It is part of the road junction at a T-intersection for purposes of provision of adequate space for safety and visibility for vehicular and human traffic, to avert a blind spot at the T-junction.

Land Reference No. 209/12133, EACC claims was excised from a public road reserve. On it contained a public amenity - a public toilet owned and managed by the Nairobi City Council.

In the ELC Case No. E182/2023, EACC sued Japheth Kimutai Chepkeres and four others. EACC instituted the suit in May 2023 for the recovery of LR. No 209/12492 whose current registered owner is Arts 680 Limited. EACC's case was consolidated with ELC E064 of 2021 Arts 680 Limited v Kenya Railways Corporation and four others. Arts 680 Limited had sued KRC and KeNHA.