Land grab puts Standard Gauge Railway project in jeopardy

One of the most ambitious government projects allocated funds in this year’s budget is under threat after it emerged that the land (worth approximately Sh1.6 billion) on which it is supposed to sit has been grabbed and sold out to gullible Kenyans, The Standard on Sunday can reveal.

Ownership of the land originally belonging to Numerical Machining Complex (NMC), one of the target engines the government intends to use for massive industrial expansion, is in private hands that include self-help groups.

The 1,200 acres of industrial land is at Athi River, fronting Mombasa Road on the Namanga Road junction and bordering London Distillers.

Liquidity challenges

NMC, The Standard on Sunday can reveal, has over the last few months been unsuccessfully fighting to repossess the land.

It is suspected that politicians, in cahoots with cartels in the Ministry of Lands and Provincial Administration, grabbed and sold the land to unsuspecting buyers, who now stand to lose millions of shillings. The land’s current value is approximated to be Sh14 million per acre.

At one time, sources within the National Land Commission (NLC) indicated that a senior Provincial Administration official refused to provide security to a team of officers from NMC who had gone to inspect the land, although a prior request for provision of security had been made and granted.

“We have to get back this land because it is the future of NMC. It is one of the necessary prerequisites towards achieving Vision 2030. It would appear that some shadows sold the land to unsuspecting Kenyans who now purport to own it,” said NMC Managing Director Gordon Onjore.

The land was originally 1,700 acres, but 500 acres were hived off and sold following a Cabinet resolution to settle NMC’s liquidity challenges after the company’s original mandate to manufacture the first Kenyan car collapsed.

And in what paints the picture of a Government that may not have been aware that part of its land is illegally in private possession, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said the Government has put in place measures to make NMC a regional hub for railway parts and maintenance services.

The proposed manufacturing plant for the said parts is planned to be established on the land which NMC seems to have lost to private developers, a fact the NLC confirmed. 

Strategic plan

“The Government is committed to the realisation of the Vision 2030. Industrial expansion is central to this vision and we are not going to get there if land belonging to the vehicles of industrial expansion like NMC is being privatised. NMC has already submitted a proposal showing how they intend to occupy the land for expansion. The commission is in support of the NMC and will ensure that justice is done,” NLC Commissioner Rose Musyoka said yesterday.

Mr Rotich, in his budget speech, said: “We are also going to revamp Numerical Machines Limited to make it a regional hub for railway parts and maintenance services”.

Part of the NMC’s strategic plan, The Standard on Sunday found out, is to manufacture parts for the railway transport system in preparation for the Standard Gauge Railway.

“There is a programme to start producing various parts to supply the railway transport system, especially the Standard Gauge. We already have the technology and the necessary equipment. It is now a question of agreeing the specific parts we shall be supplying,” said Onjore. On December 3 last year, the NLC responded to numerous complaints from NMC: “This is to confirm that the above parcels of land (NO.26699/30 and 26700/2 ATHI RIVER) are vested in your institution, the same having been resultant sub-plots after subdivision of the original L.R 11895/20 that had been registered under your name vide title number I.R63767. This ministry has not reallocated the same land to any other entity. Kindly take measures to safeguard this public property.”

Necessary steps

Dr Musyoka said NLC was satisfied the land belongs to NMC and that the commission would take the necessary steps to ensure the same goes back to the rightful owner. “The commission is handling that matter, but what I can confirm to you is that the land belongs to NMC according to official records. The 1,200 acres have not been allocated to any other group, individual or institution,” she said.

Mr Onjore said a couple had even visited NMC offices to report how they had lost at least Sh10 million to fraudsters who purported to own the land. We could not immediately reach the family. The Standard on Sunday later established that part of the Government’s new strategy for industrial expansion is to have NMC create business divisions, each focusing on a particular section within the steel and engineering fields.

The proposed divisions are steel, transport, and general engineering. To actualise this strategy, the company needs to establish its new operations at the controversial Athi River land.

Steel industries

Part of the strategy is setting up an integrated steel mill to catalyse industrialisation by making different grades of steel available for use by the local industries.

“The current thinking is to locate different plants at strategic locations depending on economic factors while the corporate office, growth and research and development units be located at the Athi River land. About 500 acres will be set aside for this purpose. Another 300 acres will be set aside to accommodate other related steel processing industries,” said Onjore.

Similarly, NMC will partner with prominent international corporations to manufacture parts for the railway industry for the Sub-Sahara African market.

The plan is to set up a plant that will make selected parts for locomotives, coaches, wagons and the rail track. The Government will also set up a general engineering division at the controversial land, which the Government is yet to repossess.

The expanded Athi River plant will complement the existing facilities of NMC and enable the company to offer more products.