Land Registrar Felix Mecha Nyakundi arrested for involvement in a new graft scandal in his office.

📋 Breaking It Down

A former senior lands official has been ordered to surrender assets, cash and vehicles worth Sh426.8 million to the State after the High Court found that he and his family failed to explain how they acquired the wealth.

Justice Benjamin Musyoki ruled that former Kilifi Principal Land Registrar Felix Mecha Nyakundi, his wife Stellah Nyaboke Otwori and companies linked to the family could not account for properties, bank deposits and other assets accumulated over more than a decade.

The assets forfeited to the government include Bantu Hotel along Kangundo Road, valued at Sh107.7 million, the Saro Wiwa apartment block in Nairobi’s Utawala area worth Sh35 million, a penthouse in Mombasa valued at Sh19 million and 11 parcels of land in Kilifi and Thika collectively valued at Sh15.4 million.

📌 What You Need to Know

The court also ordered the forfeiture of three vehicles — a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, a Mercedes-Benz and a Toyota Hilux — all valued at Sh11.9 million.

In addition, Justice Musyoki directed that Sh233.58 million held in bank accounts and M-Pesa wallets be surrendered to the government.

“Having said that, it is my opinion that the transactions in the bank and M-Pesa accounts, save for the available balances, must be taken as having been absorbed in the landed properties and businesses therein and the cash seized from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants since it is apparent that what hit the accounts was utilised in either purchasing and developing the landed properties and establishing and growing the 3rd defendant’s business,” the judge said.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) said investigations established that between January 2013 and March 2024, Mr Nyakundi and his associates acquired assets worth about Sh771.8 million.

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According to the commission, the wealth comprised Sh467.7 million that passed through various bank and M-Pesa accounts, landed properties valued at about Sh287 million, motor vehicles and cash recovered during searches.

📰 Source: Nation Africa