Suspects In Ksh 4 Billion County land grabbing scheme arraigned

Kwale, 

Thursday, 26 October, 2023 

McCreadie Andias 

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations Land Fraud investigators have arraigned two suspects in connection to a land grabbing scheme amounting to Ksh 4 Billion. 

Deputy Director for Land Administration Mr Salesio Kaburu and a City land Broker Jacob Frankline Kamau Kamathi are implicated in a Sh4 Billion land tussle between the County Govt of Kwale and Lunga Lunga Ranching Company Ltd.

The arrest and subsequent arraignment of the Ardhi House-based administrator and the broker followed investigations conducted after Kwale County's Physical Planner complained that suspected grabbers had forged a notification of approval PPA2 for the extension of lease of a parcel of land LR No. 14211. 

According to the planner, the 63030.0 hectare piece of land had initially been registered under Lunga Lunga Ranching Company Ltd but upon misuse of the ranch, the National Land Commission (NLC) in its 2019 determination reverted the ranch ownership to Kwale County Govt, for settlement of squatters and the communities within the area, establishment of public utilities and development purposes.

According to the DCI, Indepth investigations launched on March 11, 2023 established that some cartels based at Ardhi Hse, Nairobi jointly with several notorious brokers some of whom are still on the loose had fraudulently surveyed the land, forged a planning brief and the PPA2 to initiate the illegal extension and indeed secured a new grant.

After investigations, a comprehensive case file was submitted to the Director of Public Prosecution for perusal and guidance, facts whose threshold merited the recommendation that charges be preferred against the perpetrators.

The two were arrested in Oct 24 and arraigned in the Kwale law courts on 25th October. 

They were charged with 16 counts of conspiracy to defraud, forgeries and making of false documents.

The two pleaded not guilty of the charges and were released on Sh5 million and Sh4.5 million respectively with a surety of the same amount without the option of a cash bail. 

The case will be mentioned on November 9, 2023.