The Nairobi’s City hall is again on the spot for scheming a plan which saw Nairobians loss Ksh2.7 billions through a well-formulated scheme between City Hall and law firms they hired.
Lands Committee in parliament, on Tuesday, heard that City Hall, through contracted law firms, has been collecting money since 1993 to facilitate the processing of title deeds and leases but to date, not a single document has been submitted to the owners.
The information came to light when the committee summoned the Lands PS, Nicholas Muraguri, and Stephen Mwangi, who is the Nairobi Lands Chief Officer.
Embakasi West residents, through their MP George Theuri, petitioned parliament to investigate the matter which necessitated the land committee to initiate the probe.The constituents had complained of never receiving the ownership documents despite having paid for them.
Theuri, while facing the committee, explained how over 40,000 residents of his constituency have been forced to pay thrice for the crucial documents.
“The first payment of Ksh 30,000 per plot was done in 1993 through Musyoka Annan Advocates. The second was paid directly to City Hall and the current one is being paid through Mbugua and Otido Advocates,” he added
When Mwangi was asked to clarify on this matter, he claimed that the residents made private arrangements with lawyers and the county isn’t liable.
“These payments were made during the defunct council and I may not be in a position to say if the money was received at the county,” Mwangi added, eliciting anger from the MPs.
Muraguri was pressed to clarify on claims that the title deeds that President Uhuru Kenyatta issued in the Nairobi Eastlands Tittling Programme in 2018 were fake but he categorically denied the claims stating that titles were 100 per cent genuine.
When the MPs sort to know why the owners were asked to pay Ksh 30,000 each, while in fact, the president stated that the title deeds were ready, Muraguri responded, “As a ministry, we are not charging anything. We have waived stamp duty, survey fees, planning fees, and registration fees.”
Mwangi explained that the Ksh 30,000 was being paid to the law firms that the county engaged to process the lease documents.