The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has successfully recovered a prime parcel of public land worth Sh35 million located next to the Bungoma State Lodge in Milimani area, Bungoma Town.
The property, belonging to the State Department for Housing and Urban Development, had been illegally acquired by a private individual who went on to demolish a government house and construct a multimillion-dollar maisonette on the land.
According to EACC, the property, registered as Bungoma Township/169 and measuring about half an acre, was reserved by the government in 1961 for the construction of residential houses for senior public officers.
However, it was irregularly allocated in 2004 to Charles Nyasani and Scolastica Nyakerario, who later transferred it to Judy Nekoye in 2016.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, October 9, 2025, Justice Enock Cherono of the Bungoma Environment and Land Court declared that all transactions leading to Nekoye’s acquisition of the land were fraudulent, illegal, and void.
The court further issued an eviction order against Nekoye and directed the Bungoma Land Registrar to cancel all illegal entries and rectify the land records.
Quoting the Commission’s statement, EACC said, “The Court nullified the Certificate of Lease and directed the Bungoma Land Registrar to rectify the Land Register by canceling all illegal entries relating to the grabbers.”
The agency added that the ruling reaffirmed the principle that “no one should benefit from property illegally acquired from the public.”
Justice Cherono also nullified the certificates of lease issued to both the initial and subsequent owners, affirming that they could not confer any legitimate ownership rights.
The court’s decision followed EACC’s vigorous opposition to Nekoye’s petition seeking ownership of the property.
EACC welcomed the judgment as a major victory in the ongoing fight against land grabbing and the protection of public property.
“The Commission is pursuing 16 additional prime public properties believed to have been grabbed within Bungoma Town for recovery and return to the public,” EACC stated.
In a public advisory, EACC urged Kenyans to conduct proper due diligence before purchasing land to avoid financial losses arising from illegal or fraudulent property transactions.
“The public is advised to conduct thorough due diligence whenever acquiring property to avert losses arising from illegal acquisition of public land,” the statement concluded.