Proceedings at the Milimani Law Courts moved forward on Thursday as the trial involving former National Land Commission chairperson Prof. Muhammad Swazuri entered a key stage, with prosecutors putting him to task over decisions made during the acquisition of land for the Standard Gauge Railway project.
The case, which has been in court for several years, is now at the defence stage, giving the accused persons a chance to respond to the charges brought against them.
Prof. Swazuri is facing charges together with 16 other individuals over claims that they were involved in a scheme to defraud the government through irregular compensation payments.
The payments were allegedly made during the process of acquiring land for the SGR, a major infrastructure project meant to improve transport across the country. Investigators say the scheme led to the loss of about Ksh.221 million belonging to the Kenya Railways Corporation.
During the court session, Prof. Swazuri appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Eunice Nyutu and took the witness stand. The hearing resumed after a short break since the last session held on January 19. Prosecutors focused their questions on how the National Land Commission approved compensation for five parcels of land without following proper procedures.
The prosecution told the court that the approval was done even though there was no valuation report to support the compensation amounts.
They also pointed out that a government valuer did not confirm the ownership of the land before payments were approved.
This, according to the prosecution, went against standard practice and opened the door for abuse of public resources.
Prof. Swazuri is accused of using his position as chairperson to facilitate compensation payments to two private companies, Dasahe Investments and Olomotit Estate Limited. The prosecution claims that the land for which the firms were paid was actually public land and should not have attracted compensation.
They argued that approving such payments amounted to abuse of office and a breach of public trust.
The court also heard that the titles for the disputed parcels had earlier been cancelled. The cancellations were reportedly carried out by the NLC’s Review of Grants and Dispositions of Land Committee after the land was found to have been acquired illegally.
Despite this finding, compensation was still processed and approved, raising serious questions about the conduct of those involved.
Several former senior officials of the National Land Commission are charged alongside Prof. Swazuri.
They include Dr Salome Ludenyi Munubi, who was the Director of the Valuation and Taxation Committee at the time, Tom Chavangi Aziz, the former Chief Executive Officer of the commission, and Francis Karimi Mugo, who served as Director of Finance and Administration.
The prosecution believes their roles were central to the processing and approval of the disputed payments.
The court is expected to examine more details surrounding the decisions made by the commission during the SGR land acquisition process.
The outcome of the case is being closely watched, as it touches on issues of accountability, public land management, and the use of public funds. The court is scheduled to proceed with the matter on Friday.
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