Illegal Land Owners to Face Prosecution

Nairobi — People found to own land illegally will now be prosecuted, the Ministry of Lands and the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission have warned.

The Ministry, together with the anti corruption agency, will also work towards reclaiming public land that has been obtained illegally.

Lands minister James Orengo said the move will curb corruption in land acquisition.

"Legal proceedings will be lodged against those who cannot explain how they got these title deeds," he said after meeting the KACC advisory board at his Ardhi House office Thursday.

The minister, however, said they are yet to come up with an inventory of the government land.

He further stated that people who have received grants and leases from the government but have failed to utilise it will have the land reclaimed.

The chairman to the KACC advisory board Mr Okongo Omogeni said legal proceedings will be brought against those found to have acquired land illegally.

Mr Omogeni urged the public to come forward with information of grabbed public land.

"New allocations of public land will be done only when absolutely necessary," he said.

Mr Orengo stated that public land needs to be freed up for development such as infrastructure and other investments.

"Vision 2030 will not be achieved if such corruption is not stopped."

Further meetings, he said, will be held with the relevant ministries and stakeholders to ensure compliance.

On February this year, the minister revoked the title deeds of individuals, who had illegally acquired public utility land.

While revoking the title deeds, he noted that some individuals acquire the land illegally then sold it back to the government at inflated prices.

He noted that the irregular allocation of land had interfered with the government's physical planning programme. However, he stated that the issue would be rectified with new physical planning methods.