The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has received court approval to seize over 100 residential properties, valued at Ksh.1 billion, that were illegally acquired in Nairobi's Woodley Estate. This decision follows the Court of Appeal’s recent ruling upholding a prior judgment from the Environment and Land Court, which ordered that the properties be returned to the Nairobi City County Government.
A panel of three judges, Justices Francis Tuiyott, Jessie Lesiit, and Grace Ngenye-Macharia, found the private acquisition of this public land to be “fraudulent, illegal, null and void.” Court records reveal that the case began in 2006, with the EACC (then the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission) filing 52 recovery cases in the Environment and Land Court.
Justice J. Okong’o previously invalidated the title held by Paul Moses Ng’ethe, declaring it null due to fraudulent acquisition and directing the Registrar of Lands to cancel private ownership. Ng’ethe appealed this decision, but the appeal was dismissed on grounds of lack of merit, affirming the previous ruling entirely.
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The court ruled, "The orders which commend themselves to us to make are the appellant’s appeal against the judgment of Okong’o, J. delivered on the 27th February 2020 in ELC No. 2054 of 2007 has no merit and is hereby dismissed, the judgment of Okong’o, J. is confirmed in its entirety and the 1st respondent will have the costs of the appeal.” Ng’ethe was also ordered to cover the EACC’s costs for the appeal.
EACC now plans to ensure that Ng’ethe, his agents, tenants, or other occupants vacate the properties so they can be handed over to the government. The anti-corruption body is also working to resolve additional pending cases in the Environment and Land Court. The estate, also known as Joseph Kang’ethe, contains prime residential homes, each on approximately one acre of land.
