Mystery as landowners fail to claim SGR billions

A total of 330 people affected by the construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR) Phase 2A from Nairobi to Naivasha are yet to claim compensation from the National Land Commission (NLC), the Nation has learnt.
INVESTIGATIONS
The details emerged Wednesday after the NLC finalised the payment of about Sh20.32 billion as compensation to affected families and firms whose land was compulsorily acquired for the extension of the SGR line.
“We promised to facilitate the payment to all the affected individuals and firms by the end of this month. So far we have managed to pay all the outstanding amounts, except Sh4.53 billion, for which some individuals have never come forward to claim compensation,” NLC acting chief executive officer Kabale Arero told the Nation.
From the amount yet to be paid, some 330 individuals and firms are yet to claim compensation totalling Sh1.14 billion.
“We believe that some of those who are yet to claim compensation are absentee landowners who are yet to make follow-ups or who might not be interested in the compensation. We will publish the list of all those yet to make claims for compensation as part of public awareness because we want to settle this matter and move on to other projects,” Ms Arero said.
The pending payments, which have delayed the completion of the railway line by several months, attracted investigations by a multi-agency team established by President Uhuru Kenyatta in his efforts to tackle corruption.
The commission is yet to pay 11 individuals whose compensation claims, totalling Sh1.78 billion, are still under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
FLASHY POLITICIANS
Thanks to suspected corruption and impunity at the Land commission in the past, officials had overvalued some of the affected parcels of land by over 1,000 per cent, upon which they would collect bribes.
The Nation has established that one of the affected 11 properties belongs to a prominent city lawyer whose land was valued at over Sh244 million but upon evaluation by the multi-agency team, the figure was reduced to Sh18 million, a drop of over 1,200 per cent.
The affected cases include the payment of Sh927 million to the Rongai-based Clarence Matheny Leadership and Training Institute following a dispute with flashy Gusii politician Zaheer Jhanda, who is demanding Sh139 million as “consultancy fees” for striking the compensation deal.
The case involving Mr Jhanda and the church is in court and NLC has deposited the compensation claims in court awaiting ruling on the matter.
Out of the Sh4.53 billion yet to be paid out, Sh735 million is being held because of disputes, Sh135.88 million is yet to be settled following feuds involving 136 families while nine matters totalling Sh66.75 million are stuck in succession processes.




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