Why EACC wants Jirongo charged over Sh250m land deal with City Hall
The commission said in its quarterly report that Mr Jirongo was paid the amount as compensation for a plot of land in an industrial area, but the land had already been developed with public utilities.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) wants politician Cyrus Jirongo and others prosecuted for allegedly receiving Sh250 million from the Nairobi County government for a plot of land four years ago.
The commission said in its quarterly report that Mr Jirongo was paid the amount as compensation for a plot of land in an industrial area, but the land had already been developed with public utilities.
The recommendation has been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Renson Ingonga, who is yet to respond.
In its report, the commission said the money was paid to Kuza Farm and Allied Limited as compensation for the acquisition of land in Industrial Area Nairobi during the 2019/2020 financial year.
“Investigations established that the Nairobi County Government entered into a consent with Kuza Farm after a dispute arose on the ownership of the same since Kuza Farm had acquired the land regularly yet the land had been developed with public utilities. The consent was adopted as a decree of the Court,” the report showed.
One of the conditions in the decree was that Kuza Farm was to be paid Sh250 million after clearing all encumbrances registered against the title of the land.
Enforcing the court decree
“The payment to Kuza Farm was irregular since the title of the Land in question had been charged to Post Bank Credit Ltd for a sum of Kshs. 1,650,000,000. This meant one of the conditions of the decree was not complied with since Kuza Farm was paid yet the land was encumbered," EACC said.
The anti-graft body said Kuza Farm and Mr Jirongo, who actively participated in the meeting where the payment was made, were culpable of unlawful acquisition of public property because they were paid the money but the title to the land was transferred to Post Bank Credit Ltd.
Also recommended for prosecution are employees of the Nairobi County Legal Department who were responsible for enforcing the court decree, along with other officials involved in processing the payment.
They include Ms Lydia Ogwoka, Mr David Ogwaro, the chief officer for finance and planning, and Mr Halkano Waqo, who will be charged with conspiracy to commit a corruption offence if the DPP approves the charges.
The same report indicates that the DPP will review the prosecution of a senior analyst and personal assistant to the Chairperson of the Commission of Revenue Allocation (CRA), Ms Jecinter Adoyo Hezron, for using forged academic documents to secure employment.
The EACC alleges that Ms Adoyo used a forged Master of Arts certificate and a forged Bachelor of Arts (Sociology) degree certificate to secure employment at the CRA.
She worked at the CRA from August 2017 to July 2023, where she received a gross salary of Sh15.2 million.
“Recommendation to charge the Senior Analyst/Personal Assistant to the Commission Chairperson with offences of fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery, uttering a false document, deceiving Principal and giving false information to a person in the public service,” the report stated.
