11th August, 2018
National Land Commission chair Muhammad Swazuri, Kenya Railways Corporation Managing Director Atanas Maina and five others have been arrested over dubious Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) compensations.
The Saturday dawn arrests follows a go-ahead by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji who approved corruption charges against them.
Whereas the specific charges against the seven has not been confirmed by Standard Digital, the payout has been subject to controversy after an audit revealed Kenyans lost more than Sh4 billion in intricate land compensation deals.
The report signed by Kenya Railways risk and audit manager Remmy Koech gives a peak into the lack of internal controls that gave NLC a free hand to spend public money without putting in place documents needed for accountability.
It further shows how fake compensation claims, double payments, over payments, inflation of land values and payment of people whose land was never on the corridor was used to loot taxpayer’s money.