Lawmakers accuses National Land Commission and the Ministry of Lands for misleading President on privatization of KICC building
They accused Director for Legal Affairs at NLC, Brian Adungo on conspiring with Garden Square Hotel’s owner Armstrong Kasuku to defraud public
David Pkosing led committee invited DCI to investigate the officer and any other person of interests in what seemed a well botched plan to grab the said parcel of land
The Cabinet Secretary for Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development Alice Wahome on Thursday 29th February, ordered to produce a title deed for the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) amid fears that there is a plot to grab the COMESA grounds by private developers .
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Public Investments, Commercial Affairs and Energy Chaired by Pokot South lawmaker David Pkosing, issued a one-month ultimatum for the CS to bring KICC title deed failure to which the committee will result to take further measures since the matter is of the public interests
The order comes amidst correspondences between the National Land Commission (NLC) and the Nairobi County government seeking to redesign and allocate COMESA grounds to private entities, a move that the MP David Pkosing-led Committee considers suspicious.
The long-running land saga continues to rumble, with renewed attempts to grab the land between Parliament Road, City Hall Way and the Supreme Court building commonly referred to as the COMESA grounds.
However, Wahome flanked by her counterpart Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, Culture and Heritage Dr Alfred Mutua sought to assure the legislators and Kenyans at large that the land was safe and secure.
While demanding answers from the ministry, members of the committee wondered why the dispute has taken long to resolve and whether there was a conflict of interest between officers both in the Lands ministry, the National Land Commission, and the cartels trying to grab the land.
“The custodian of land records is the Ministry of Lands, there should not be any dispute that you can’t resolve, you should be able to tell us who owns the land, and whether it is under the national government or the county government,” charged Laikipia West MP Mwangi Kiunjuri.
However, CS Wahome assured the committee that despite the attempts, the land was safe and has not been subdivided.
“May I assure the committee that the land where KICC sits is secure and its title is in the custody of the National Assembly. I also want to assure the committee that the remaining land popularly known as COMESA grounds is secure, I have not seen any records to show that it has been subdivided…the land is safe,” said the CS.
Wahome sought the support of the committee and Parliament to issue the title to KICC, as she pleaded to be given one month to give a comprehensive answer on the process that is happening to secure the national monument.
She dismissed claims made by Garden Square Limited that it owns part of the land, insisting that even the land Garden Square Restaurant sits on is a public land.
“Garden Square is actually a toilet by design, and it’s part of the land that we are talking about. Making an application to own the land does not mean it will be automatic that they will own the land. I think we are Okay, and we need to complete this process, when I come back I will tell you how far we have gone,” Wahome assured the MPs.
While agreeing to give the ministry one month to deal with the issue, committee chair Pkosing ordered all processes that were ongoing in regard to the land to be stopped immediately.
“The one month the committee is giving you, come with the title of KICC, or at least come and show us the processes that are going on. And there must not be two subdivisions of the land, it must be one…bring us the title, no stories,” he stated.
Wahome retorted: “I understand the legitimate fear that you have, but I am confirming to the public that the land is intact, notwithstanding the correspondences of people who want to claim the land, but I am confirming to Kenyans as the custodian of tittles that the land is safe.”
Pkosing, would demand Director for legal services in the National Lands Commission to step aside paving way for conclusions of the matter owing of conflict of interest, but the CS defended saying that she will work out the matrix while in office