Former Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita has been charged with multiple counts of land fraud, abuse of office, and giving false information to authorities in connection with the alleged illegal acquisition of prime property in Nairobi.

The charges relate to two parcels of land along Lang’ata Road in Nairobi West, each measuring 0.29 acres and collectively valued at Sh150 million.

Appearing before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi, Mwaita pleaded not guilty to all five counts. The magistrate granted him a bond of Sh10 million or an alternative cash bail of Sh2 million.

His co-accused, identified as Kiplangat, failed to appear for plea-taking, prompting the court to issue a summons for him to appear on Tuesday.

The prosecution alleges that Mwaita and his co-accused conspired on or before March 30, 2001, to fraudulently generate title documents for land reference number 209/9968 IR No. 85847 without lawful authority. The titles were allegedly used in an attempt to defraud Rose Njoki King’au of land designated as Plot “A.”

It is further alleged that Mwaita, while serving in a public office, unlawfully registered both Plot “A” and an adjacent Plot “B” in favor of third parties without the knowledge or consent of their rightful owners, Rose Njoki King’au and Micugu Wagatharia. These actions, the prosecution claims, amounted to abuse of office.

Mwaita faces additional charges including conspiracy to commit a felony, making documents without authority, two counts of abuse of office, and two counts of providing false information to public officials.

The court was told that in March 2020, Mwaita misled detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) by claiming that the disputed parcels were owned by a certain company, which has not been publicly named.

He was arrested on Sunday in the Kilimani area and spent the night in police custody before being arraigned. The case highlights renewed efforts to prosecute historical land fraud cases involving senior public officials