The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has secured the recovery of Mombasa Municipality/Block XIX/305, a public road reserve valued at approximately Ksh25 million. This property is situated along Machakos Road and serves as an access route to the University of Nairobi, Mombasa Campus. The recovery was made possible through a judgment delivered on 24th September 2026 in Mombasa ELC Case No. E049 of 2023.
According to the court findings, the parcel of land formed part of a road reserve and had been illegally and fraudulently alienated in 1994. Hon. Justice Y. M. Angima of the Environment and Land Court declared the lease and survey plan creating the parcel null and void. The court also ordered the rectification of the relevant land and survey records and permanently restrained further dealings with the property.
The suit arose from EACC investigations into the allocation of land reserved for public use. The investigations established that the road reserve had been unlawfully and irregularly excised from Machakos Road and allocated to the late Ezekiel Luyali, who was then a Councillor at the Municipal Council of Mombasa. The allocation was irregularly and unlawfully facilitated by David Kalume Randu and Ahmed Mwidhani, who served as Town Clerk and Mayor, respectively.
The investigations further revealed that the fraudulent allocation took effect from 1st June 1994 and culminated in the issuance of a lease dated 1st September 1994, which was registered on 2nd September 1994. The court found that the legal process prescribed under the Local Government Act then in force for closing a road had not been followed. This included the absence of Gazette notices announcing an intention to close the road and a valid and approved Part Development Plan preceding the alienation.
The court consequently held that the alienation of the property in 1994 was illegal and fraudulent. The EACC had adequately demonstrated its claim for recovery of the property and the consequential reliefs sought. As a result, the court issued orders that included declaring the lease dated 1 September 1994 null and void and directing the Chief Land Registrar to rectify the register by cancelling the entries relating to the lease.
Furthermore, the Survey Plan Folio Register (F/R) No. 264/37, which created the parcel, was declared null and void. The Director of Survey was directed to cancel and expunge it. A permanent injunction was also issued restraining the first defendant, his servants, agents and/or assigns from alienating, selling, charging or further charging, leasing, transferring, wasting, disposing of or otherwise dealing with the property.
The judgment affirms that public land reserved for public use must be managed strictly in accordance with the law and cannot be converted to private use through unlawful allocation. The Commission calls upon public officers and institutions entrusted with the management of public land to exercise their mandates within the law and uphold the public interest in the management and protection of public resources.
Key points
- The EACC recovered a public road reserve valued at Ksh25 million adjacent to the University of Nairobi, Mombasa Campus.
- The recovery was made possible through a court judgment that declared the lease and survey plan creating the parcel null and void.
- The commission calls for the management of public land to be done in accordance with the law to prevent unlawful allocations.
