The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has secured the recovery of a road reserve adjacent to the University of Nairobi, Mombasa Campus.
The property, worth Ksh 25 million, is situated along Machakos Road and serves as an access route to the University of Nairobi, Mombasa Campus.
In a judgment delivered on 24th September 2026 in Mombasa, Justice Y. M. Angima of the Environment and Land Court found that the parcel formed part of a road reserve and had been illegally and fraudulently alienated in 1994.
The Court declared the lease and survey plan creating the parcel null and void, ordered the rectification of the relevant land and survey records, and permanently restrained further dealings with the property.
The suit arose from EACC investigations into the allocation of land reserved for public use, which established that the road reserve had been unlawfully and irregularly excised from Machakos Road and allocated to the late Ezekiel Luyali, who was then a Councillor at the Municipal Council of Mombasa.
The probe found that David Kalume Randu and Ahmed Mwidhani, who served as Town Clerk and Mayor, respectively, irregularly and unlawfully facilitated the allocation.
The fraudulent allocation took effect from 1st June 1994 and culminated in the issuance of a lease dated 1st September 1994, which was registered on 2nd September 1994.
The Court found that the legal process prescribed under the Local Government Act then in force for closing a road had not been followed.
In particular, there was no evidence of Gazette notices announcing an intention to close the road; A valid and approved Part Development Plan preceding the alienation; a Council or committee resolution approving the allocation; or approval by the Minister for Local Government of the purported 99-year alienation with effect from 1st June 1994.
The Court consequently held that the alienation of the property in 1994 was illegal and fraudulent and that EACC had adequately demonstrated its claim for recovery of the property and the consequential reliefs sought.
Similarly, the Court directed the Chief Land Registrar to rectify the register by cancelling the entries relating to the lease.
Further, the Survey Plan Folio Register (F/R) No. 264/37, which created the parcel, was declared null and void and the Director of Survey directed to cancel and expunge it.
A permanent injunction was issued restraining the first defendant, his servants, agents and/or assigns from alienating, selling, charging or further charging, leasing, transferring, wasting, disposing of or otherwise dealing with the property.
The anti-graft body welcomed the ruling, saying it affirms that public land reserved for public use must be managed strictly in accordance with the law and cannot be converted to private use through unlawful allocation.
