Ambassador Sam Ongeri named in Kisii market land grab

NAIROBI, KENYA: An ambassador has been accused by the Ombudsman of illegally acquiring public land in Kisii.

A report by the Ombudsman released Wednesday indicated the ambassador used his position as a Government officer to hive off a plot from the Kisii Municipal Market.

The Ombudsman's report accused Kenya's envoy to the UN-Habitat Sam Ongeri of  allocating himself the land while he was Local Government minister in 1982.

Also adversely mentioned in the damning report are businesspersons and other officials of the defunct Kisii Municipal Council.

Ombudsman Otiende Amollo said Wednesday the report has been forwarded to President Uhuru Kenyatta for action against the envoy whom he recently appointed.

The Office of the Ombudsman has requested the envoy and those holding the six other plots to surrender them to the Government.

"Our investigations reveal that Ongeri abused his office in acquiring that plot. It is up the President to decide on the next course of action. Other arms of the Government also need to take action on this matter," he said.

He added: "Only title deeds of land that is acquired legally can be respected by the law. The titles of the seven plots should be revoked and the land returned to the public," said Amollo.

Amollo said that by the time the envoy was undergoing vetting in Parliament for the ambassadorial position recently, they had not finalised investigations into the alleged land grab and could therefore not file complaints.

REFUTED CLAIMS

But when contacted, Prof Ongeri refuted the claims that he had acquired the land illegally, saying he followed the right channels to get it.

"I applied for the land through the Commissioner of Lands, and it was duly surveyed by the Government and letters of allotment and ownership given to me. I have been paying land rates since then," he said.

Amollo also called on the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Lands Mariam El Maawy to punish public officers in her ministry who facilitated the acquisition of the seven plots.

It also emerged that the grabbed land is not registered. Otiende called for surveying and registration of all public land in the county.