EACC recovers property worth Sh410 million in Kisumu

By Peter Ochieng

The Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) has added another success story in the fight against corruption.

Charged with the mandated to trace, recover, and return to the public any corruptly acquired assets or unexplained wealth held by public officials, EACC has recovered public property worth Sh410 million which had reportedly been grabbed from the Kisumu County Government.

The property comprises a prime parcel of land located in the Kisumu's Dunga area, valued at Sh 60 million with a storey building (Sunshine Villas) worth Sh350,000,000 constructed on it by the alleged grabbers.

"Sunshine Villas had charged the title together with other titles to the Bank of Baroda for a loan of Sh 180,000,000," EACC said in a statement.

"The public land was set aside as an open space (wayleave) and that is currently in use by Kisumu Water and Sanitation Company Limited (KIWASCO), who have laid huge pipes that draw water from the water intake plant in the Lake to the water treatment plant that is adjacent to the Villas," adds the statement.

According to EACC, Sunshine Villas filed a case against the County Government of Kisumu on 30th April 2018, claiming ownership of suit property Kisumu Municipality Block 13/302 and Sh250,000,000 as damages for the demolition of their building.

The plaintiff applied and obtained a Court Order allowing them to continue with the construction, as the County Government had attempted to stop the construction, since it would prevent intended expansion of water supply to increased city population.

However, EACC applied to the High Court to be enjoined as an Interested Party to avert loss of the property, after which Justice Samson Okong’o, found that the suit property was public land set aside as an open space for use by the public.

EACC has termed Kisumu as one of the counties with many cases of grabbing of public land, with several cases being processed and the value of recovery cases currently filed at the Kisumu Land and Environmental Court, amounting to over Sh8 billion.

Some of the notable high value recoveries underway in Kisumu County include: the 18-acre Kibuye Market valued at Sh 2 billion, and about 20-acre land in Kisumu Milimani meant for construction of regional prisons staff quarters and offices.

Others are road reserves which have been converted into petrol stations and car selling yards, and the Kisumu Mamboleo land reserved for an Industrial Park.