Taskforce Lists Individuals and Organizations Affected by Land Frauds in Athi River

Individuals and organizations that have lost land through fraudulent deals at Athi River include:

·         The Jumbo Airport,

·         National Housing Corporation,

·         National Social Security Fund,

·         Numerical Machinery Complex,

·         East African Portland Cement Company Limited,

·         Mavoko Stadium, Kenya Meat Commission and

·         Margaret Wamaitha Humphreys.  

Public land around Daystar University and Meat Training Institute has also been grabbed.

The names are contained in the report of the taskforce  set up to investigate illegal appropriation of public land in Athi River. The taskforce has recommended further investigation and prosecution of those illegally subdividing land belonging to Lukenya Ranching and Farming Co-operative Society using a fake title deed.

20,000 Acres Grabbed

The taskforce found that 20,000 acres of land in the area are currently under illegal occupation. In its report the taskforce named eight suspects who need to be investigated and prosecuted.

And now the government has started acting on the report with the arrest of one of the suspects. Other suspects are still at large.

Forged Documents

Some of the suspects allegedly forged title documents of 515.2 hectares of land in the area while others are said to have forged signatures of a Machakos court and sold land that didn’t belong to them using the forged court letters.

Residential Properties

The land scam at Athi River has led to many innocent property buyers losing millions of shillings invested in residential house construction when the government demolished the homes. One residential property owner claimed he had lost more than Shs 40 million put into the construction of the house demolished by the government.

The mass demolition of the houses, while welcomed by Kenyans as a way of discouraging conman-ship in land purchases, raised many questions and fears that the vice might discourage investing in the property market unless the government acted quickly.

 High Property Demand

So far, there has been no visible decrease in property buyers. Operators in the sector have in fact said that real estate has appreciated by more than 30 per cent in the past year.  Fast urbanization, an increase in the middle class and a change in attitudes and lifestyles are said to be the catalysts for the growth of the sector.

Land Prices Increase

Areas near Nairobi have seen nearly a doubling of prices in less than two years with a 100 by 50 feet plot going for more than Shs 500,000 up from Shs 300,000. Prime areas are said to be selling at close to one million shillings for a similar piece of land.

Athi River, lying adjacent to Nairobi and with vast quantities of land, is one of those in high demand followed by Kitengela.