EACC goes for Lands Registrar's Sh713m property

A man who joined the Ministry of Lands as a junior officer in 2006 is now a multi-millionaire, according to court papers.

A suit filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) claims Thika Land Registrar Felix Mecha Nyakundi used his office, particularly while stationed in Kilifi, to allocate settlement scheme plots to his wife and to build a portfolio of properties and bank deposits worth over Sh700 million.

Justice Benjamin Musyoki of the Anti-corruption High Court has since issued orders freezing Nyakundi’s assets, including 20 prime properties across Kenya, three high-end vehicles, multiple bank accounts, and the Bantu Hotel and Resort in Nyeri owned by the man and his wife, Stellah Nyaboke Otwori.

The family’s properties also include beachfront plots in Lamu and Kilifi, land in Gatuanyaga, Ngoliba and Nairobi.

Also affected by the Milimani High Court orders are three vehicles belonging to Nyakundi’s wife, nine bank accounts holding Sh311,681,080 and three M-Pesa accounts with Sh156,083,437 belonging to Bantu Hotel and Nyaboke.

The court also authorised the EACC to retain Sh4.26 million in cash seized during searches of the couple’s homes and offices.

In her affidavit, EACC investigator Charity Muniu claims that between January 2013 and March 2023, Nyakundi exploited his position for private gain.

He is alleged to have accumulated over Sh779 million, an amount said to be more than 1,000 times his total earnings of approximately Sh7 million.

“The accumulated assets are said to amount to Sh779,584,520.00 against known salaries and allowances of Sh7,691,298 leaving an unexplained sum of 771,893,224.00,” argues EACC.

Between May 25, 2013 and April 23, 2018 while stationed in Kilifi, the accused is said to have used his office to allocate 10 public land parcels to his wife in Chakama, Malindi and Mavueni B settlement worth millions of shillings. “The 2nd defendant( Nyaboke) was not among the verified and approved beneficiaries listed by Land Adjudication & Settlement Department,” declares the affidavit.

According to Muniu, the couple and their companies provided explanations for only a fraction of the wealth

“The commission reviewed and analysed the explanation and found a cumulative assets value of Sh58,170,000 satisfactorily explained leaving out an unexplained Sh713,723,223.00.”

EACC has also roped in Nyakundi’s daughter Mecha Corazon, also a shareholder in his two companies; Bantu Hotel and Resort and Festemagra Investment Ltd.

But while Nyakundi admits his relationship with the co-respondents, he has protested the inclusion of his wife in the suit, claiming there was no evidence linking her to the Ministry of Lands.

“Nayboke should not have been brought to the suit by mere fact that she is my wife as there are no basis laid to demonstrate that she had dealings with the Ministry of Lands,” he argues. On the freezing of his assets, Nyakundi paints a picture of hardships he has encountered since the anti-graft agency secured separate orders freezing his 107 properties and bank accounts in 2018.

“I have been stripped of my ability to provide for my family due to freezing of my assets which has been sustained for more than a year without basis.”

Regarding the Kilifi allocations, Nyakundi denied wrongdoing: “I deny having influenced allocation of the properties to my wife and add that she, like any other Kenyan, is entitled to allocation of land by the government and the fact that my kin benefitted from the allocation should not be criminalised.”

He challenges EACC’s valuation of the properties, arguing that current market prices exaggerated the value of assets acquired years ago.

Nyakundi has also justified the significant deposits in bank and M-Pesa accounts, linking them to his businesses.

But Justice Musyoki found Nyakundi’s responses unsatisfactory, noting, “one cannot fail to see an evasive way of answering to the plaintiff’s pleaded facts. Nyakundi has not given any explanation on how he and his co-defendants acquired the properties and from which sources.”

The judge dismissed attempts to use the companies as a shield.

He also stressed that scrutiny extends to spouses and companies closely tied to public officers.

The judge directed the main suit seeking to declare the multi-million-shilling assets belonging to Nyakundi, his wife and daughter as proceeds of crime to proceed for full trial without further delay.