Anti-graft agency recovers Sh30m grabbed public land in Mombasa

The The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered public land worth Sh30 million that had been illegally acquired. (EACC) has recovered public land worth Sh30 million that had been illegally acquired.

According to the commission, the recovery follows a 12-year legal battle over 0.13 hectares of land that had been reserved for road expansion in Mombasa.

In a judgment delivered on October 22, Justice S. M. Kibunja of the Mombasa Environment and Land Court declared the issuance of a title deed to one Sheikh Ali Taib (now deceased) illegal.

The court directed the Mombasa Land Registrar to cancel the title and amend the land register accordingly.

Investigations by the EACC revealed that in 1996, the then Commissioner of Lands irregularly allocated the parcel on a 99-year lease starting February 1, 1996.

According to documents, the land was later sold to the late Taib, who obtained a title deed despite the property being part of a road reserve vested in the defunct Mombasa Municipal Council for road maintenance and future expansion.

Justice Kibunja also issued a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from trespassing on the land and ordered that it be surrendered to the government.

Additionally, the court directed the defendants to pay the costs of the suit with interest at court rates.

The EACC filed the case on May 13, 2013, at the Mombasa Environment and Land Court seeking to nullify the illegal allocation of the public land.