By Andrew Kariuki
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has successfully recovered public land within Machakos town valued at approximately Ksh50 million following investigations and a landmark court ruling that declared the property had been illegally allocated to private individuals.
The recovered parcels: Machakos Municipality Block 1/623 and Machakos Municipality Block 1/624, are located along Kangundo Road and cover a combined area of about 0.79 acres.
The land was originally part of LR No. 909/536, which had been reserved for government housing under the Ministry of Health.
According to investigations by the Commission, LR No. 909/536 measured approximately 1.78 acres and was lawfully set aside for public use after being surrendered by its original allottee in the 1970s.
The government subsequently developed a residential house on the land, registered as Mach/House/HG.14, classified as a “pool house” and currently occupied by the Sub-County Police Commander.
However, in the early 1990s, the land was unlawfully subdivided into three portions, Machakos Municipality Block 1/622, 1/623, and 1/624, through an unapproved Part Development Plan.
While Block 1/622 retained the government house, Blocks 1/623 and 1/624 were irregularly allocated to private individuals despite the land having already been alienated for public utility and therefore not available for private allocation.
During investigations, the registered owner of Machakos Municipality Block 1/624 voluntarily surrendered the parcel back to the Government after acknowledging it formed part of public land reserved for government housing.
In 2019, EACC filed a recovery suit over Machakos Municipality Block 1/623 against the then Commissioner of Lands, Wilson Gacanja and Joseph Mutuku Muia, the son of former Masaku Town Council Mayor Peter M. Ndunda, who had been issued with a lease over the land.
Family Bank Limited was also named in the suit after the property was charged as security for a loan.
In a judgment delivered on 26 January 2026, Environment and Land Court Judge Justice Nelly A. Matheka ruled that Machakos Municipality Block 1/623 was originally part of LR No. 909/536 and had been reserved for public utility for government housing.
The court held that the subdivision and subsequent allocation were illegal, unprocedural and void from the outset.
The court ordered the cancellation of the title held by Joseph Mutuku Muia, nullified the charge registered in favour of Family Bank and directed the land register to be rectified to restore the property to the Government of Kenya.
A permanent injunction was also issued restraining any private dealings with the land.
Justice Matheka further ruled that public land reserved for government use cannot be lawfully converted into private property, regardless of the existence of a title deed, emphasizing that constitutional protections do not extend to unlawfully acquired property.
Over the past year, EACC has also recovered two additional properties in Machakos County through Alternative Dispute Resolution.
These include Machakos Municipality Block 2/7, a Ministry of Housing parcel allocated to the Judiciary, and Machakos Municipality Block 2/936, which forms part of Machakos Primary School land.
Speaking at the recovered site, EACC Director of Legal Services and Asset Recovery David K. Too stated that the Commission is currently pursuing the recovery of assets valued at approximately KSh363 million across Machakos, Kitui, and Makueni counties. These include 13 parcels of Kenya Prisons land within Machakos County valued at about KSh60 million.
Mr. Too reiterated the Commission’s commitment to reclaiming illegally acquired public assets and urged individuals and entities holding such property to voluntarily surrender it for its intended public use.
