EACC sues ex-Moi aide over Sh10m Kabarnet land
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has sued former President Daniel arap Moi's telephone operator Pauline Chepkorir Maiyo over a Sh10 million land scam in Kabarnet town in Baringo County.
The anti-graft body has also sued former Lands Commissioner Sammy Silas Komen Mwaita, who, according to court papers seen by the Nation, played a key role in the land scam.
The commission has instituted proceedings at the Environment and Land Court in Kabarnet town to recover the prime land it says was siphoned off and illegally allocated to Ms Maiyo.
In the suit, the anti-graft body alleges that the alienation and allocation of the property to Pauline Chepkorir Maiyo by former Lands Commissioner Sammy Mwaita was fraudulent, illegal, null and void.
"The property in question is public land that was illegally allocated to the government employee and the plot numbered Kabarnet Municipality/161 was earmarked for the construction of residential houses for government employees before it was grabbed," reads part of the court papers.
"The land is a piece of land situated off Hospital Street and a few metres from Rift Valley Hills Resort in Kabarnet Municipality in Baringo County and had been earmarked, reserved and used for government housing. On the land was a government house numbered KABA/HOU/HG/7 consisting of a main house and boys' quarters constructed in September 1953," the court papers say.
EACC argues in the court papers that on August 2, 2002, the suit property measuring 0.3518 hectares was illegally alienated and given to Paulina Chepkorir Maiyo, a former telephone operator posted to the late President Moi's Kabarak home, despite the fact that the suit property was planned and earmarked for use as a public utility reserved for government housing.
The graft agency accuses former Lands Commissioner Sammy Mwaita of abuse of office and purporting to exercise powers he did not have to allocate land that was not available for alienation and without regard to public interest.
Former lands boss Mr Mwaita is being sued for his role in facilitating the fraudulent acquisition of public property through conspiracy with Ms Maiyo.
The commission says the parties conspired to fraudulently acquire the public land.
In the suit, the EACC is seeking orders for the recovery of the state land and a declaration by the court that the allocation and transfer of the land to Pauline Chepkorir Maiyo was illegal, null and void because Mr Mwaita did not have the powers to grant title and/or any other proprietary rights over the said public land.
The anti-graft body is also seeking an order directing the Land Registrar to rectify the register by striking out all entries relating to the grant of a lease of the land in favour of Ms Maiyo.
EACC also wants the court to issue an order of perpetual injunction restraining Pauline Chepkorir Maiyo by herself, her agents, servants, employees, assigns or any other person from encumbering, transferring, leasing, wasting, entering, developing, subdividing, occupying and/or dealing in any manner with the land in suit except by way of surrender to the government.
The EACC began investigating the matter in 2020 after receiving allegations that land earmarked for the construction of houses for civil servants had been illegally alienated and allocated to private individuals.
Ms Maiyo, however, has maintained that she acquired the land properly and that she obtained the title deeds legally.
The matter will be heard on Thursday 13 April 2023. BY DAILY NATION
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