The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has filed a case before the Environment and Land Court in Nairobi seeking to recover a parcel of land next to North Highridge Primary School, alleging it was unlawfully converted from public land reserved for a social hall into private residential property.
In the suit, the anti-graft agency wants the court to nullify the title to No. 209/12673 (currently LR No. 209/21526), which is registered in the name of Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif.
Also named as defendants are former Igembe North MP Richard Maoka Maore, Hellen Njeri, Shaheensha Investments Limited and former Commissioner of Lands Wilson Gachanja.
EACC is asking the court to order Governor Khalif to vacate the land within 30 days and demolish all developments erected on the property at his own expense. Should he fail to comply, the commission wants the land restored to the Government, with any demolition costs recovered from the governor.
The commission further seeks damages against Gachanja, accusing the former Lands Commissioner of breaching his statutory and fiduciary duties by facilitating the allocation of land that was never available for private ownership.
According to court documents, the land was reserved under an approved Part Development Plan as a public utility to serve North Highridge Primary School and could not legally be allocated for residential purposes.
"At all material times to this suit, the suit property was and remains public land belonging to the Government of Kenya, and investigations did not disclose any evidence that proves otherwise," EACC states in its pleadings.
The commission contends that a 1995 Letter of Allotment issued to Hellen Njeri and the subsequent grant were unlawful because they relied on "a fake, unregistered and unapproved" Part Development Plan. It also alleges that while the allotment letter was issued to Hellen Njeri, the acceptance was signed by another person identified as Jane Njeri.
EACC argues that the illegality tainted every subsequent transfer of the land—from Njeri to Shaheensha Investments Limited in 1997, to former MP Maore in 2004, and finally to Governor Khalif in February 2021.
Investigators further claim that a 2015 resurvey excised approximately 0.05 hectares from North Highridge Primary School and added it to the disputed property, enlarging the private parcel at the expense of the school's land.
"Since the allocation of the suit property... was fraudulent, illegal, null and void ab initio, it could not confer any estate, right or interest upon the defendants or any other person subsequently," the commission says.
EACC is also seeking orders cancelling all titles linked to the property, permanently restraining the defendants from dealing with the land, and restoring it to the Government for its intended public use.
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