Meru Lands officer arrested over suspected graft

Land CS Farida Karoney. [Courtesy]

Police have arrested a senior Lands registrar in Meru County over irregularities he allegedly oversaw during his tenure in Machakos County.

George Njoroge was picked from Meru Lands offices by detectives from Machakos County who stormed his office 8.30 am Thursday.

He was then driven away to KBC police station in Matungulu Sub County where he was booked in and spent Thursday night in police cells.

Matungulu Sub County police commander Isaac Thuranera confirmed the arrest, saying he will be arraigned in court Friday morning.

“The officer was arrested over irregular issuance of land title deeds in Machakos County where he served in the same position for about eight years before he was transferred to Meru County a month ago,” said the police boss.

He said Njoroge will be arraigned in a Kangundo court Friday morning. “We are also pursuing individuals who colluded with the official to commit various crimes,” he said.

Njoroge’s transfer from Machakos was preceded by a tour of Lands offices by Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney a month earlier.

Elsewhere, a 32-year old man committed suicide at Katine village in Tala location Thursday afternoon.

The deceased, who was a bachelor is said to have walked into a shop and bought a cake and soda which he ate before proceeding to take his own life on a mango tree.

His neighbors discovered his body moments after he hanged himself, and reported the incident at Tala police station.

Tala OCS, Samuel Nguyo confirmed the incident, saying police had launched investigation into the incident. “The deceased was living alone and did not have a family. We did not find any suicide note on him but our officers are investigating the matter,” he said.

The body of the deceased was removed to Kangundo level 4 hospital mortuary.