Nairobi, KENYA: With confusion surrounding the Ruaraka land, National Land Commission NLC chair Muhammad Swazuri has vowed not to resign any time soon.
Addressing the media on Wednesday in Nairobi, Swazuri said he will stay put and drive the mission and vision of the commission despite accusation that it approved the payment of the private land of Ruaraka where Ruaraka primary school and Drive-in primary are located.
“We are here to do our work, cowards are the only ones who resign,” Said Swazuri.
Swazuri said the matter became hot after Ruaraka land was reported in the media to be a public land and yet paid a private company by the name Afrison Export-Import Limited as compensation.
The private company belonging to Mr. Francis Mburu was paid a deposit of 1.5 billion shillings by the Ministry of Education after it rendered 96- acre piece of land that was to go for 3.2 billion.
He added that the commission received complains from the owner of the land three years ago where the owner complaint was that its property had been illegally occupied for over thirty years.
“It was in this on this basis that the Nation Land Commission pursued the matter with the attendant institutions including Ministry of Education, Ministry of Lands and Physical planning, Attorney General’s office to confirm that the claim and the status of the land in question was right,” he added.
NLC Chair further said that upon the Ministry of Education receiving the receipt of the NLC letter seeking further information in line with section 6 of the NLC Act, the ministry wrote to the NLC on 17th March 2018 acknowledging the complaint and confirming that indeed there were public schools built on private land.
The Cabinet Secretary then Fred Matiangi, formally requested NLC to guide it in the requisite formal process and secure public interest by acquiring the land on which the school stands.
“ As a matter of procedure, which procedure applied then, if a subdivision is approved and all conditions are accepted by the applicant, requisite approval fees are applicable and a new survey is undertaken’” He explained.
This comes after Education CS Amina Mohammed on Monday appeared before the Parliamentary Service Committee on Education that, by then Education CS Matiangi and PS Kipsang disregarded the ministry’s internal report to authorize the compensation.
