Workers on the standard gauge railway. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- The National Land Commission (NLC) says in the latest gazette notice that it has stopped payments for 1,674 parcels of land estimated at 2,544 acres in a freeze that could further delay the Sh150 billion line.
- The irregularities come weeks after fraudulent land compensation for the Nairobi-Mombasa SGR line led to the prosecution of NLC chairman Mohammad Swazuri and Kenya Railways chief executive Atanas Maina among other senior officials of the two state agencies.
A multi-billion shilling land compensation project for the
Nairobi-Naivasha standard gauge railway (SGR) has been stopped after an
audit revealed the payments had been inflated.
The
National Land Commission (NLC) says in the latest gazette notice that it
has stopped payments for 1,674 parcels of land estimated at 2,544 acres
in a freeze that could further delay the Sh150 billion line. The
affected parcels of land are between Syokimau and Mai Mahiu. The
irregularities come weeks after fraudulent land compensation for the
Nairobi-Mombasa SGR line led to the prosecution of NLC chairman Mohammad
Swazuri and Kenya Railways chief executive Atanas Maina among other
senior officials of the two state agencies.
Acting NLC
chair Abigael Mukolwe on Friday said that valuation had reduced claims
to Sh7.4 billion but declined to disclose the initial inflated amount.
The notice posted in last Friday’s gazette notice said individual
landowners will be at liberty to view the new compensation awards at NLC
and respective locational chiefs’ offices between November 5 to 7.
“We are expecting to receive money from Kenya Railways for the
awards that will affect landowners on areas identified for establishment
of substations at Ongata Rongai, Ngong and Mai Mahiu areas,” she said.
Ms
Mukolwe said the revocation followed an extensive analysis of the
affected parcels of land which revealed discrepancies in computation of
the awards.
Disputes on compensation have derailed
construction work for the past year with the Chinese contractor
concentrating on other areas as they await resolution of the matter.
The
controversy took a new twist last week when some landowners in Oloolua
accused the NLC's valuers of including non-existent features in targeted
plots to inflate prices and fleece the public of hard-earned cash.
“My
semi-permanent three-bedroomed house has been changed into a bungalow
with a swimming pool in compensation forms. These discrepancies are in
turn causing delays yet many of us need the money to move our families,”
said John Kimani, a resident of Oloolua.
About 1,100
parcels of land are earmarked for compensation between Syokimau and
Ngong, but it has been difficult to move families before paying them.
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