By Nicholas Waitathu

Individuals who transfer public assets without following due process risk going to jail, government has warned.

Available figures indicate that over 200,000 plots, 10,000 houses and 4.2 million acres of public land are in private hands.

Last week, the Transition Authority (TA), the State agency coordinating transition into devolved units issued a two-week notice to those irregularly holding public property to return it or face full force of the law.

TA chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi warned that all those who may have grabbed public assets have only two weeks to surrender them failure to which punishing measures’ will be applied against them.

 “Section 33 (2) of Transition to Devolved Government Act, 2012 makes it clear that such a person commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine of not exceeding Sh10million or imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or both, “ Wamwangi said.

Property wrangles

There have been wrangles over housing and offices in various counties, for example Garissa, Kakamega, Nyandarua, Nyeri, and Machakos among many others.

In some counties, premises previously used by municipal and county councils are being refurbished for use by governors and to house county assemblies.

TA says Sh9.8 billion has been disbursed to county governments to cover expenses relating to personnel emolument and administrative costs of both the executive and county assemblies.

Wamwangi explained that an audit will begin in the next two weeks and ruthless actions would be taken against those who are still in possession of public property. The Ndung’u Land Commission appointed by President Kibaki in 2003 to investigate illegal and irregular allocation of public land confirmed that over 200,000 plots were lost when private landowners grabbed 4 million acres of public land in Kenya.

Lands Minister James Orengo sometime back claimed that the  grabbing of public assets has scared away investors who wanted to set their business locally denying the country the much-needed revenue.

This, he added has retarded economic growth, hindering creation of more jobs  and reduction of poverty. 

Equally, lack of land he said was frustrating efforts to implement Vision 2030 flagship projects. Examples of foreign investors who had to stop their ambitions in extending their wealth into the country in 2011 include China’s Wuyi and America’s Cortland companies.

The two companies had plans to develop 5,000 housing units in various parts of the country. Last week, Housing ministry Permanent Secretary Tirop Kosgey confirmed that more than 10,000 government houses constructed for civil servants across the country are in the hands of private owners, exacerbating the scramble for space by new offices. “Government in every province, district, division, and location headquarters has houses which are used as offices and residents by the civil servants,” Kosgey said.

“However, in 1980s and 1990s most of these houses where irregularly acquired and government has been facing challenges to reclaim them.”

 National Land Commission operationalised last month is supposed to start reprocessing all public land in the hands of private developers. 

Asset register

Wamwangi explained that an Integrated National and County Assets Register Centre (Incar) have been set up with 30 employees seconded from the office of the Auditor General.

 Incar is in the process of preparing an interim register of assets and liabilities of the 47 counties. “Once audit of the asset is carried out the Auditor General is expected to take legal action against those who will not have surrendered the properties,” Wamwangi said.

 The Authority he added would seek information from the public, institutions, and consult reports on who had grabbed public properties.

The Government, related agencies and local authorities’ since independent has never developed asset registers indicating where they own assets and the nature of the same. 

Reginald Okumu, a property consultant states that for the Government to reclaim the same it must develop a comprehensive asset register.  Okumu questioned new government directive arguing even past findings and recommendations out of compiled reports on public land embezzlement have never been implemented.

“How many individuals and groups implicated in Ndungu Land Commission and other reports carried out were investigated, arrested and charged in courts for the offences,” Okumu posed question.

 But Kosgey , in response said efforts to recover the assets have been faced with court barriers over and above procurement of fake acquisition documents by the deceitful developers.

 “Out of the stolen houses we have only been able to recover 200 units hoping in the new dispensation more efforts will be applied to net all the devious developers,” he said.

He said land meant for civil housing schemes in various parts of the country has been alienated.  For example, in Pangani area of Nairobi County, 44 acres are grabbed though government claims to have title deed, Kileleswa -18 acres and Mlolongo lost 150 acres.

Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu each lost five acres to private developers. Kosgey said the grabbers have frustrated the Government’s plans to build more homes for civil servants.

For example, a project where 2,000 units were to be constructed for civil servants with a Sh5 billion funding from foreign investors in year 2011 stalled in Athi River, after land ‘vanished’ two months before the 2007 elections.