The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has successfully recovered public land valued at Sh12 million in Karatina, Nyeri County, originally set aside for police housing, following a protracted 13-year legal battle.
According to the statement issued by the agency on Friday, the parcel, known as Karatina Municipality/Block II/383 and measuring 0.074 acres, was formally surrendered to the Government after a consent was recorded before the Environment and Land Court in Nyeri between the EACC and the registered owner, Peter Thinwa Ngari.
Justice Evans Makori on February 17, 2026, ordered the surrender of the land’s Certificate of Lease to the Government, free of any encumbrances, ending a long-standing dispute.
The recovery follows the filing of Nyeri ELC No. 92 of 2013 on May 14, 2013, in which the EACC sought to reclaim the land from Peter Thinwa Ngari, Joseph Mithamo Wachira, John Muriuki Ruthuthi, and Wilson Gacanja.
Investigations revealed that the property had been earmarked for police housing in Karatina town, but was irregularly excised in 1998.
The survey created two development plans: Ref. No. C20/98/4 for a proposed residential plot and Ref. No. C20/98/5 for the existing police station site. The excised plot was initially allocated to Joseph Mithamo Wachira, who later transferred it to Ngari on July 19, 2001.
Further inquiries by the EACC revealed that the unlawful excision and allocation were facilitated by Johnson Muriuki Ruthuthi, then Provincial Physical Planner in the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, and Wilson Gachanja, the then Commissioner of Lands.
At the time, the land had already been designated as Government property for police housing and was therefore not legally available for subdivision or private allocation.
“The court’s adoption of the consent brings to an end the protracted dispute, paving the way for the land to be utilised for its intended public purpose,” the EACC said in a statement.
The Commission urged members of the public who are in possession of, or hold title documents to, government land to voluntarily surrender such property under the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework.
“We call upon individuals to cooperate and ensure that public land is returned to the Government for its intended use, reinforcing transparency and accountability in the management of national assets,” the statement added.
