The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has initiated civil proceedings to recover 7.6 acres of public land in Milimani, Kisumu City.
The land was allegedly unlawfully excised from land belonging to the Kenya Prisons Service and converted into private ownership.
Currently valued at approximately KES 790 million, excluding developments, and estimated at KES 4.3 billion including developments, the disputed land forms part of an original 16-acre parcel reserved for the Kenya Prisons Service’s staff housing and regional offices.
This recovery action follows a petition lodged by the Kenya Prisons Service in February 2022, requesting investigations into the unlawful occupation, subdivision, and alienation of its land in Kisumu.
Following the complaint by the Kenya Prisons Service, EACC investigations uncovered the following;In 1961, the Colonial Government, through a Legal Gazette Notice, set aside the land for prisons use.
By 1965, formal documentation for the land commenced, with the Commissioner of Lands initiating the planning process.
Plan No. DRG 9/65/7 was prepared on 9th July 1965, designating this land specifically for prisons and prison housing.The land was surveyed by the Director of Survey in 1966, with Survey Plan Folio Reference No. 108/152 prepared on 21st October 1966.
Kisumu Development Plan (DP) No. 182 of 11th March 1971, followed by Part Development Plan (PDP) No. 236 of 16th November 1978, reserved Parcel No. KISUMU/MUNICIPALITY BLOCK 10/98 measuring 6.556 hectares (16.20 acres) for Prisons Headquarters and staff housing.
The Kenya Prisons Service occupied the land, with staff houses built on it. However, during the time the land was unlawfully grabbed, some of these houses were demolished to make way for private settlement.
It is alleged that around 1989, the former Assistant Minister for Home Affairs Heritage, the late Hon. Grace Emily Akinyi Ogot, colluded with then Commissioner of Lands Mr. Wilson Gacanja and other land officials to fraudulently acquire about 7.6 acres of the prisons land, converting it to private use.
This fraud involved forged documents, including a forged allotment letter, a fake Part Development Plan (PDP), and falsehoods used for misrepresentation.
The late Hon. Grace Ogot, who was in charge of the Kenya Prisons Service as the Assistant Minister for Home Affairs & National Heritage, allegedly sought land for a proposed school named Hon. Grace Ogot Secondary School.
Later, she requested part of the prisons land for private residential development.Contrary to the law, she is said to have asserted her authority to have the land allocated to her.
She subdivided the seized land into 92 parcels and sold them to unsuspecting buyers.Most of these parcels are now developed, with current occupants having renamed the area as Winam Estate (also known as Grace Ogot Estate).
In response, the Commission has filed a case in court seeking the cancellation of all titles resulting from these transactions, declarations that the entire chain of transactions was illegal, fraudulent, and null and void, and finally, the restoration of the land to the Kenya Prisons Service
.As part of the first phase of recovery, the EACC has filed nine (9) asset recovery suits in the Environment and Land Court in Kisumu, targeting parcels within the disputed 7.6-acre area. Additional cases will be filed in phases to ensure effective case management.
The Commission notes that this case exemplifies a broader pattern where public land reserved for essential government functions has been unlawfully diverted into private hands through abuse of office, fraudulent documentation, and manipulation of land allocation processes.
EACC reaffirmed that public land is held in trust for the people of Kenya and must only be allocated and used in accordance with the Constitution and land laws.
