LET THE GRABBERS AND LOOTER FACE THE MUSIC NOW JUDGE RINGERA

The people of kenya are tired of reading from the press about who has grabbed what land and stolen what amount of money from the public. This is setting a very bad example to everyone in kenya that the only way to get rich is through corruption and stealing. It is now the highest time KACC did the work it was created to do and if not so it should be scraped and desmantled. The officers in that department were hired by the people of the Republic of Kenya to help them investigate and proscute those found guilty of have acquired wealth in an ilegal manner. However, it has taken over three years to prosecute the first case even though it is well known fact that so much has been looted. Ringera should watch out carefully because kenyans are not fools.

WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY ON THE SAME NOTE

Prominent Kenyans named in the Ndung'u report have 30 days to surrender irregularly-acquired public land or face prosecution.


Mr Justice Ringera
The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) director Aaron Ringera yesterday said the organisation will start recovery proceedings against those who will not have surrendered their title deeds or lease certificates at the end of the stipulated period.

In a public notice published in Tuesday's Daily Nation, the director says: "A surrender and recovery desk has been set up at the commission's offices at our office on Valley Road, Integrity House, in Nairobi, for the purpose of facilitating and documenting the process."

The desk had been necessitated by the willingness by some beneficiaries mentioned in the Ndung'u report, to surrender their title deeds, Mr Ringera said.

However, the director did not name any of them.

The Ndung'u commission of inquiry into illegal or irregularly allocated public land names top government officials in the current and former regimes, led by retired President Daniel arap Moi and former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta, as some of the beneficiaries.

Others are Cabinet minister Njenga Karume and former Road's minister Raila Odinga's family firm, East African Spectre; former ministers Nicholas Biwott, Joseph Kamotho, William ole Ntimama, George Saitoti, and Kipng'eno arap Ng'eny.

Current and former MPs named in the report include Mr Kuria Kanyingi, Mr Mark Too, Mr Chafarno Mokku, Mr Kipkalya Kones and Mr Gideon Moi.

The list also includes former permanent secretaries, a high court judge, provincial commissioners, district commissioners, a former State House comptroller, a former head of the presidential press service; a former police commissioner, a former director of the Criminal Investigations Department and a former head of the Kenya Air Force, among many others.

The report, which was released last year following an outcry by leaders and the public, is a comprehensive list of who-is-who in the Kenyatta and Moi regimes.

Most of the land in question belonged to parastatals and public and research institutions such as the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari), the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) and the Kenya Prisons, among others.

When the report was released, the Government through the ministry of Lands directed the affected institutions to start moves to reclaim the land, even if it meant going to court.

The move generated a new controversy when it turned out that some of the beneficiaries were churches, institutions such as schools and individuals who had title deeds.

Former Lands minister Amos Kimunya announced that the Government was working on a legal framework to overcome the hurdles. He has since been moved to the Ministry of Finance.

Government critics have accused the State of implementing the report to divert attention from the Anglo leasing and Goldenberg scandals, in which some top officials have been implicated.

There are also fears that the report would not be easy to implement because land is a sensitive issue that has in the past led to violence in parts of the country.

According to the report, Prof Saitoti and Mr Ng'eny were each allocated 1,500 hectares of the Nyota Complex ADC in Kuresoi while Mr Kones got 500 hectares of the Sirikwa ADC farm.

Former First Lady Mama Ngina, the mother of official leader of Opposition Uhuru Kenyatta, features prominently in the three-volume dossier over 38 acres hived off the Kikuyu escarpment in 1965.

The report says that the grabbing of public property resulted in some 200,000 illegal titles deeds being issued, and recommends that a tribunal be set up to help handle revocation and review land laws.

On ADC farms and settlement schemes managed by the Settlement Fund Trustees, the report recommends that politicians who acquired large chunks of land either surrender them for redistribution to squarters, or they be made to pay at market rates and the proceeds used to buy land for people without plots.

Yesterday, Mr Ringera said in his notice: "The commission, pursuant to its mandate, has commenced investigations into the illegal allocation of public land mentioned in the Commission of Inquiry into illegal/irregular allocation of public land, commonly known as the Ndung'u report."

The director noted that the report highlights that fact that land reserved for public use, such as road reserves, public toilets, council houses, cemeteries, Government houses, parastatal land, forests, schools research and trust land, among others, was irregularly allocated to private individuals.

"It is further noted that such illegally acquired land was in some instances disposed of to third parties in spite of the fact that there was no legal title capable of passing to the said parties," Mr Ringera said.

The deadline is reminiscent of Mr Ringera's 2003 notice to judicial officers implicated in corruption to resign, which saw more than 100 officials including judges, magistrates and clerks either sacked or forced to quit in the biggest purge on the Judiciary since independence.

Some of the judges opted to resign, while others filed cases in court, most of which are yet to be determined.