Grabbed water reservoir land repossessed

The Government has repossessed Nairobi's Loresho Water Reservoir land that was grabbed by a private developer two decades ago.

This follows President Uhuru Kenyatta's intervention to revoke the title deed from business tycoon Shital Bhandari.

Uhuru also instructed the Inspector General of Police and the anti-corruption detectives to conduct a site inspection to ensure there was no construction on the public land.

Investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) are currently under way with a view to prosecute the developer if found to have violated the law.

"There is a separate legal process under way but if there is a criminal offence disclosed, definitely he will face the law," said Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett when asked what would happen to the developer.

Boinett assured that action would be taken against those involved after investigations.

The water reservoir, which sits on a four-acre plot, serves part of the Nairobi region and has a capacity of 80,000 litres.

National Land Commission chairman Muhammad Swazuri said the land was grabbed two decades ago.

The developer went to the High Court in 2012 but was defeated in a judgement delivered recently. However, he then went to the magistrate's court to get consent to start construction of a shopping mall.

He was also able to demolish some of the structures used by the security personnel manning the property.

"We revoked the title on Friday and have already given a stop order. All we require is the full support of the security organs to protect this property. Nobody should be allowed to bring equipment and build anything here," said Dr Swazuri.

Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko called for stern action against the developer, county officers who allocated the land and anyone else involved in issuing the "fake title deed".

He also appreciated the support by the president to protect the public infrastructure and added that several other public properties grabbed in Nairobi should be investigated and repossessed.

Youth from Kangemi helped themselves to some of the materials at the Loresho construction site that included bags of cement, construction pillars and iron sheets, among others.