Court Cancels Lease as EACC Recovers Ksh25 Million Road Reserve Land

The road reserve along Machakos Road in Mombasa that was recovered by EACC following a court ruling. PHOTO/ EACC X

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has secured the recovery of a public road reserve in Mombasa valued at approximately Ksh25 million after the Environment and Land Court declared its allocation illegal and fraudulent.

The property, identified as Mombasa Municipality/Block XIX/305, is located along Machakos Road and serves as an access route to the University of Nairobi Mombasa Campus.

In a judgment delivered on September 24, 2026, Justice Y.M. Angima ruled that the parcel had been unlawfully excised from the road reserve and irregularly allocated in 1994.

The court subsequently declared the lease and survey plan used to create the parcel null and void and ordered the cancellation of the related land records.

Court exposes irregular 1994 land allocation

EACC investigations established that officials had allocated the road reserve to the late Ezekiel Luyali, who was then a councillor at the Municipal Council of Mombasa.

David Kalume Randu, who served as Town Clerk, and Ahmed Mwidhani, who was then Mayor, facilitated the allocation.

The purported alienation took effect on June 1, 1994. Officials subsequently issued a 99-year lease on September 1 and registered it the following day.

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However, Justice Angima found that the process used to convert the road reserve into private property did not meet the legal requirements in force at the time.

No Gazette notice announcing an intention to close the road was presented in court. There was also no approved Part Development Plan preceding the alienation, council or committee resolution authorizing the allocation, or evidence that the then Minister for Local Government had approved the purported 99-year alienation.

“The Court found that the legal process prescribed under the Local Government Act then in force for closing a road had not been followed.” EACC said.

Justice Angima consequently held that the allocation was illegal and fraudulent, finding that EACC had proved its case for recovery of the property.

Court orders cancellation of land records

Justice Angima declared the lease dated September 1, 1994, and registered on September 2, 1994, null and void, finding that it had been issued beyond the powers of the officials involved.

“The alienation of the property in 1994 was illegal and fraudulent and EACC had adequately demonstrated its claim for recovery of the property and the consequential reliefs sought.”

The Chief Land Registrar was ordered to rectify the register and cancel all entries relating to the lease.

The court also declared Survey Plan Folio Register (F/R) No. 264/37, which created the parcel, null and void. It directed the Director of Surveys to cancel the plan and expunge it from the records.

The court further issued a permanent injunction barring the first defendant, their agents or assigns from selling, leasing, transferring, charging, disposing of or otherwise dealing with the property.

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The ruling safeguards the road reserve from further private dealings and affirms that land set aside for public use cannot be converted to private property outside the law.

EACC urged public officers and institutions entrusted with public land to exercise their mandates within the law and protect public resources from unlawful allocation.

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