The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered public land worth approximately KSh50 million in Machakos.
This is after investigations by the EACC revealed that the property had been illegally allocated to private individuals in the early 1990s.
“The recovered properties, Machakos Municipality Block 1/623 and Machakos Municipality Block 1/624, are located along Kangundo Road and measure about 0.79 acres. The parcels were illegally and irregularly allocated to private individuals in the early 1990s,” read part of the publication made by the anti-corruption body.
The reclaimed parcels had originally been reserved for government use, including housing for state officers.
The recovery follows a recent court ruling and sustained enforcement actions by the Commission, marking another significant step in efforts to reclaim public land that has been grabbed across the country.
According to the Commission, the land formed part of a larger parcel, LR No. 909/536, measuring 1.78 acres, that had been set aside for the Ministry of Health to develop institutional housing.
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As evidence for this, the land hosts Government House No. Mach/House/HG.14, a facility classified as a “pool house” that is currently used by the Sub-County Police Commander.
However, EACC investigations established that the land was unlawfully subdivided into three portions, and two of them, Blocks 1/623 and 1/624, were irregularly allocated to private entities.
The EACC Land Recovery Process
Machakos Municipality Block 1/624 was voluntarily surrendered to the government during investigations.
For the remaining piece, Block 1/623, the EACC initiated a suit in 2019 against Mr Wilson Gacanja, then Commissioner of Lands, and Mr Joseph Mutuku Muia, son of former Masaku Town Council Mayor Peter M. Ndunda, seeking the cancellation of its illegal title.
A breakthrough in the case came on 16 January 2026, when an Environment and Land Court Judge, Nelly A. Matheka, declared that Machakos Municipality Block 1/623 was originally part of LR No. 909/536 and ruled in favour of the Commission, directing the Machakos land registrar to cancel the title for Block 1/623.
The court affirmed that the land was originally reserved for public housing and was therefore not available for alienation.
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The EACC noted that the recovery is part of a broader campaign to reclaim grabbed public assets across Machakos County, where in the past year, the Commission has recovered two additional properties: Machakos Municipality Block 2/7, which is a Ministry of Housing parcel measuring 0.45 acres, and Block 2/936, which forms part of the Machakos Primary School land.
Both recoveries were finalised through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism.
Other Land Scandals in the Eastern Region
EACC Director of Legal Services and Asset Recovery, Dr David Y. Too, said the Commission is committed to ensuring that public land is restored to taxpayers and confirmed that the body is pursuing recovery of KSh363 million worth of assets across Machakos, Kitui, and Makueni, including 173 acres of public land in Machakos County.
The total value of public land under investigation across the three counties is estimated at KSh650 million.
Too stressed that reclaiming public land remains a priority for EACC, and specifically, lands that have been reserved for essential government services, such as housing, health, and education, and have been unlawfully taken over by private developers.
He urged county officials, registrars, and members of the public to support ongoing recovery initiatives.
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