Integrity Centre
By Njoroge David
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered a prime parcel of public land worth KSh35 million in Bungoma Town that had been illegally acquired and developed by a private individual.
The land, located next to the Bungoma State Lodge in the Milimani area, belonged to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and had been reserved for the construction of residential houses for senior government officers.
According to court documents, the property — Bungoma Township/169, measuring about half an acre — was irregularly allocated in 2004 to Charles Nyasani and Scolastica Nyakerario, who later transferred it to Ms. Judy Nekoye in 2016. Ms. Nekoye went on to demolish an existing government house and built a multimillion-shilling maisonette on the site.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, October 9, 2025, Justice Enock Cherono of the Bungoma Environment and Land Court ruled that all transactions leading to Ms. Nekoye’s acquisition of the land were fraudulent, illegal, null, and void. The court ordered her eviction and directed the Bungoma Land Registrar to cancel all related entries in the land records.
“The Certificate of Lease registered in favor of the plaintiff was fraudulently obtained, null and void, and incapable of conferring any interest,” Justice Cherono ruled.
The Commission’s investigations established that the land was among government properties reserved as early as 1961 for official housing.
EACC spokespersons said the recovery is part of ongoing efforts to reclaim grabbed public land across the country. The agency is currently pursuing 16 additional prime parcels in Bungoma believed to have been illegally acquired.
EACC has advised members of the public to conduct thorough due diligence before purchasing property to avoid losses arising from illegal transactions involving public land.
