The sale of land valued at Ksh.150 million, which was reportedly taken from the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), has been temporarily halted by a court in Mombasa.

This action was taken pending the resolution of a recovery case brought forward by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

The EACC has filed a lawsuit against Wilson Gachanja, the former Commissioner of Lands, Francis Waiganjo Kimanga, Lucy Wanjiru Kimanga, and their company Kensko Agro Produce Ltd. Additionally, the EACC is also investigating Silver Clouds Investment Limited, a private company operating in Mombasa.

This legal action follows an investigation conducted by the anti-corruption watchdog in response to a complaint from KBC, which was filed on September 29, 2022. The complaint alleged the unlawful allocation of land originally designated for the expansion of the State broadcaster to a private developer.

According to an undisclosed source interviewed by Citizen Digital, the investigation unveiled that Mr. Gachanja, who was a Lands Commissioner at the time, unlawfully assigned the mentioned public land to a private developer.

The source stated, "The specific land was initially allotted to a private company named Silver Clouds Investment Limited through an allocation letter dated May 9, 1994."

Later on, the property was transferred to another private company called Kensko Agro Produce Ltd without conducting proper due diligence.

Kensko Agro Produce Ltd then proceeded to obtain title documents by executing a lease for the land on May 27, 1994. The lease was registered on May 30, 1994, and a certificate of lease was issued in their name.

According to reports, Kensko Agro-Produce Limited subsequently divided the land into five parcels on July 28, 1994. They sold three of these parcels, which are currently being used for commercial purposes, while keeping the remaining two for the same purposes.

The suit filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) requests the court to declare that all the transactions relating to the allocation and division of the land were fraudulent, illegal, null, and void. EACC argues that these transactions cannot confer any legal rights, ownership, or interests over the properties to Kensko Agro Produce Ltd or any other party.

The Mombasa Environment and Land Court, presided by Lady Justice Nelly Matheka, has designated the case as urgent and scheduled a hearing for June 13, 2023.