EACC recovers grabbed Kenya Airports Authority land valued at Sh104 million

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered public land valued at Sh104 million belonging to the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).

The parcel of land, known as MN/VI/3748 and measuring 1.73 acres, was intended for the Mombasa International Airport but had been irregularly acquired by Agil Mahmud, who was then the Provincial Physical Planner for Coast Province.

On Wednesday, the Environment and Land Court in Mombasa ruled that Agil Mahmud was holding the land illegally.

In his judgement, Justice Kibunja held that the land, having been reserved for a public purpose, specifically the Port Reitz Airport, which was later renamed Moi International Airport in 1961, was not available for allocation to private individuals.

In cancelling the certificate of title currently held by Academy Properties Limited, the court noted that since the initial allocation to Agil was illegal and irregular, any subsequent transfers to third parties were therefore null and void.

The ruling followed an investigation by the EACC, which revealed that land parcel MN/VI/3748 was originally part of L.R MN/VI/3888, measuring 538.76 acres, which had been reserved for the Port Reitz Airport (now Moi International Airport) under KAA.

Court papers show that during the preparation of the survey report for L.R MN/VI/3888, a portion of the land was irregularly hived off and subdivided into smaller plots covering approximately 1.73 acres.

Agil was then allocated one of these plots, MN/VI/3748, based on an unverified sketch plan rather than a formally approved Physical Development Plan (PDP). The EACC established that there was no application, acceptance of allotment terms, or payment of the requisite fees by Agil, as required by law.

The commission subsequently filed a suit on February 13, 2009, seeking, among other orders, a declaration that land parcel MN/VI/3748 was public land reserved for public purposes and thus unavailable for private allocation, and the cancellation of the title issued to Academy Properties Limited.

Also named in the case was the then Commissioner of Lands, Wilson Gacanja, who was accused of fraudulently facilitating the allocation and subsequent illegal transfers.

“The Commission is still pursuing in court the recovery of 12 other parcels of land, all excised from Moi International Airport, Mombasa, Kenya Airports Authority, valued at over Sh2.5 billion. The court cases are at various stages,” the EACC said on Thursday.

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• EACC
• kenya airports authority
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• Mombasa International Airport
• EACC recovers grabbed Kenya Airports Authority land valued at Sh104 million
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