Ex-Lands boss Wilson Gachanja arrested over sale of public land
Former Commissioner of Lands Wilson Gachanja who has been arrested for aiding the illegal acquisition of public land by private developers in Kwale.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested former Commissioner of Lands Wilson Gachanja and two others for aiding the illegal acquisition of public land by private developers in Kwale.
Those arrested together with Mr Gachanja are former senior lands officer in charge of the former Coast Province and former physical planner in the Ministry of Lands Mr Jabu Salim Mohamed.
EACC said that the public land in question is a public access road — Kwale Diani/Beach Block/1072 — valued at Sh30 million.
The arrested suspects will be arraignment in Mombasa on Tuesday.
Commenting on the arrests, EACC Chief Executive Officer Twalib Mbarak said that names of two of the arrested land officials have featured in most of the pleadings filed in court seeking the recovery of illegally acquired public land.
“In addition to tracing and recovering public land that was illegally allocated to private developers, EACC seeks to hold all the public officials involved to account. Public officials hold office to serve public interest and as such, they should at all times desist from breaching the trust vested in them,” said Mr Mbarak.
The EACC boss added that investigations targeting more public officials on related public land matters are ongoing.
