EACC recovers Sh65m grabbed government housing land in Kitale

 

A view of the land that had been grabbed by a private developer within Kitale Municipality. [Courtesy, EACC]

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered Kitale government housing property valued at Sh65 million.

This is after the Environment and Lands Court established that the parcel of land known as Kitale Municipality Block 11/18, measuring 1.732 acres, where the government house No KITA/HOU/HG/2 stood, was irregularly allocated to private developer Charles Lugano, now deceased.

In a 37-page judgement by Justice IUR Fredrick Nyagaka, the court held that Kitale Municipality Block 11/18 was not available for allocation to private individuals having been alienated and in use for a public purpose, to wit, government housing, and ordered that the same should be returned to the government.

The suit was initially filed by the administrators of the Estate of Charles Lugano in March 2021, seeking to have the land declared private property.

At the time of filing, the beneficiaries of Lugano Estate had already demolished government house No KITA/HOU/HG/2, which stood on the property, despite the EACC having obtained preservation orders on March 9, 2021.

The commission told the court that in 2007, the government communicated its intention to sell and validate non-strategic houses in the district, but the house was not among the houses identified for sale or validation, as it was not considered non-strategic.

The intended sale and validation of non-strategic government houses in districts was consequently cancelled in 2008, and no government house was sold.

However, on February 27, 2021, the administrators of the estate Charles Lugano, without any colour of right or authority, fraudulently, illegally and maliciously demolished the house, which EACC said was built with public funds, and the demolition amounted to unlawful demolition of public property and was an affront to the law and public interest.

And in the judgment dated July 4, 2025, the court indicates that investigations by the graft body had established that the land had been reserved for government housing since 1928.

The judge said the government house in question, where the Chief Magistrate of Kitale Law Courts resided, remained on the official government building register and had never been leased or lawfully disposed off as required under the Government Financial Regulations.

The eviction of the magistrate in 2002 and the subsequent demolition of the house in 2021 were therefore illegal.

In its judgment, the court further declared that the allocation and registration of the land in favour of Charles Lugano were null and void, effectively making it incapable of conferring any legal interest, right, or estate.

Consequently, the Court ordered the cancellation of the title and directed that the property revert to the Government.

As a result, EACC was awarded Sh3 million in damages for the illegal demolition of a government house that was previously on the land.

The Commission was also awarded compensation for lost rent, totalling Sh252,000, along with full legal costs, with the damages and rental compensation received expected to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.