Two charged over Sh4 billion Kwale land lease renewal

Two men have been arraigned in court over conspiracy to defraud the Kwale County Government of land measuring 60,030 hectares (ha) valued at Sh4 billion. Frankline Kamau Kimathi and Salesio Kaburu Jacob were taken to the Kwale Law Courts on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, where they are facing 16 counts relating to the said land. According to the charge sheet, the two forged a notification approval PPA2 dated January 11, 2022, for LR.14211 purporting to be a genuine notification issued by the Kwale County Government. Kaburu is facing another charge of abuse of office charge where he is accused of using his title as Deputy Director of Land Administration to direct Charity Mutani, a principal land officer at Ardi House Nairobi to temporarily cover File No. 9570 for LR. 14211 for an extension of the lease. Kimathi is accused of making a document without authority, forgery of notification of approval, and forging the signature of Ali Abdallah Budzuma a Kwale County Physical Planner. He is also accused forging of a Kwale County Government stamp and forging the signature and stamp of a land surveyor identified as P.K Thagishu. He is also facing four counts of forging a forwarding letter for survey work said to have been authored by Thagishu. Kimathi is also accused of forging a Survey Plan FR No.674/69 purporting to have been signed by Fredrick Chege Ngugi, the signature and stamp of Abubakar Maddy on a Planning brief dated December 15, 2021. They pleaded not guilty and were released on a Sh5million and Sh4.5million bond respectively with surety of a similar amount. The case will be mentioned on November 9, 2023. The said land had been leased for 45 years in 1975 to Lunga Lunga Ranching Limited. The County wrote to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on March 11, 2022, in which Sylvia Chidodo reported suspected fraud. According to the Chidodo, a letter had been authored using a fake letterhead saying that the County does not have a department named "Land, Energy, Housing, Physical Planning & Urban Development", which was used in the letter seeking a renewal of the lease from the county. Chidodo says that there is no office or officer designated as County Development Control and the stamp used is not official for the county planner. She adds that the County Executive Committee member did not give any instruction for the signing on her behalf. According to Chidodo, the county did not receive an application from Lunga Lunga Ranching or approve an application to the company over the lease renewal. On January 4, 2019, the National Land Commission (NLC) wrote to the county seeking information on a lease renewal application that had been made to its office. In a reply, Saumu Beja on behalf of Kwale County said that the lease to Lunga Lunga Ranching was for the purpose of livestock ranching but over the years the ranch had fallen into disuse and neglect. This, she said had attracted speculators who had created fake titles to swindle residents and outlaws like poachers, charcoal burners and illegal mining, adding that it has also become a favourite route for human traffickers and smugglers. "Unscrupulous individuals masquerading as owners/directors of the company have been leasing a portion of the ranch to livestock traders without following due process of law and company policy," says Saumu. She said that the National Government and Kwale County government had undertaken publicly funded infrastructure adding that the intended use that saw allocation in 1977 is not evident and that the company is not registered. NLC through its then chairperson Muhammad Swazuri and then Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya (current Mining CS) determined that Lunga Lunga Ranch had been "abandoned and invaded by all kinds of people". "The commission resolved that the lease should not be extended or renewed and that the parcel should be vested in the County Government of Kwale," reads the letter by Saumu. Following the meeting between NLC and Kwale County government representatives, NLC said that title deeds LR. 19128 and LR. 24030 were fake. NLC said that LR. 24030 is part of the Kwale community land and forms part of the proposed Group Rach to be known as Chenze Ranch. It added that LR. 19128 title that had been issued to Red Bridge Farm Limited had been nullified. NLC said that no title deed had been created for LR. 14210. The one issued to Kenya Triangle Ranch was withdrawn by the Commissioner of Lands after 10 years and the subsequent allocation to Kuranze Group Ranch could not be supported by documentation. The commission recommended that 8,000 ha of LR. 14210 be allocated to Kenya Defence Forces for use as a training ground and a further 2,000 ha be excised from LR. 19128 for use as a military camp. They also recommended an area of Kuranze village for setting aside for the county to develop a trading centre and service provisions like schools and health centres. NLC also proposed that with the help of Kenya Wildlife Services, a conservancy be created to allow wildlife migration. According to NLC, the rest of the land was to be registered as community land for the benefit of pastoralist communities in the area. "The conditions of the 45-year lease have been grossly violated by non-payment of fees and charges, non-use of the rah for the intended purpose, and the abandoning of the original idea of livestock ranching," reads the letter. They recommended that the Kwale County Government take control of the land and secure it from illegal subdivisions and potential environmental degradation. They also proposed that the county government in consultation with NLC and the national government organize communities in the Greater Triangle area into Livestock Cooperative Societies for better management and protection of the land. In a March 15, 2022, letter Chidodo again wrote to the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, saying that the leasehold of CR 23616 had allegedly been extended/renewed. She said that the County had not been involved, consulted nor given any approval in the alleged renewal. She sought relevant information, documentation and correspondence on the said property currently in the custody and knowledge of the Land Administration Department, Chief Land Registrar, Survey of Kenya and National Land Commission.

Two charged over Sh4 billion Kwale land lease renewal

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Two charged over Sh4 billion Kwale land lease renewal

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