- EACC reclaims 0.1116 hectares of grabbed public land in Kisumu.
- Court cancels title issued to Fred Ogonji, declaring it illegally acquired.
- The land, valued at Kes 25 million, belongs to Kenya Railways Corporation.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has successfully reclaimed a piece of public land in Kisumu County that had been illegally acquired. The 0.1116-hectare parcel, valued at Kes 25 million, originally belonged to Kenya Railways Corporation.
In a ruling delivered on March 20, 2025, Justice Samson Okong’o of the Kisumu Environment and Land Court nullified the ownership of Kisumu Municipality Block 7/559, which had been unlawfully allocated to Fred Ogonji. The court ordered the immediate cancellation of the title deed, affirming that the land was never meant for private ownership.
EACC Exposes Dubious Land Allocation
EACC investigations revealed that the land was part of a larger property owned by the former East African Railways and Harbors Administration, as established in Legal Notice No. 440 of 1963. In 1986, ownership was formally transferred to Kenya Railways Corporation through Legal Notice No. 24 of 1986.
Shockingly, despite its clear public status, the land was illegally allocated to Fred Ogonji in 1998. The then Commissioner of Lands, Sammy Komen Mwaita, facilitated the fraud by issuing an allotment letter. The process was finalized in June 2000 when a Certificate of Lease was granted.
EACC took the matter to court in 2009 under case number ELC/E39/2020, seeking to reclaim the land. Justice Okong’o ruled that the title issued to Ogonji was fraudulent, null, and void.
EACC’s Ongoing War Against Land Grabbing
This is one of several high-profile land recovery cases in Kisumu. EACC has previously reclaimed key public properties, including:
The Kisumu Law Court land.
Kenya Railways land at Kisumu Port.
Kisumu Water and Sanitation Company Limited (KIWASCO) water treatment plant land.
Kisumu County remains a hotspot for land fraud, with EACC currently handling cases involving grabbed land worth over Kes 4 billion. The commission continues to pursue justice, ensuring stolen public assets are returned to their rightful owners.
