The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has successfully recovered public land in Machakos town valued at approximately Sh50 million, following investigations and a court ruling that found the property had been illegally allocated to private individuals.
The recovered parcels, Machakos Municipality Block 1/623 and Block 1/624, are located along Kangundo Road and measure about 0.79 acres. The land was unlawfully and irregularly allocated in the early 1990s.
According to EACC investigations, the two parcels were originally part of LR No. 909/536, a 1.78-acre piece of land that had been reserved for the Ministry of Health for institutional housing.
The property hosts Government House No. Mach/House/HG.14, a designated “pool house” currently occupied by the Sub-County Police Commander.
Further findings revealed that LR No. 909/536 was illegally subdivided into three parcels, Machakos Municipality Block 1/622, 1/623 and 1/624. While Blocks 1/623 and 1/624 were allocated to private developers, the portion on which the government house stands remained under public use.
During the investigations, the registered owner of Machakos Municipality Block 1/624 voluntarily surrendered the land back to the Government.
In 2019, the Commission instituted legal proceedings to recover Machakos Municipality Block 1/623, naming former Commissioner of Lands Wilson Gacanja and Joseph Mutuku Muia, son of former Masaku Town Council Mayor Peter M. Ndunda, as respondents.
In a judgment delivered on January 16, 2026, Environment and Land Court Judge Justice Nelly A. Matheka ruled that the parcel was originally public land reserved for government housing and was therefore not available for alienation.
The court ordered the cancellation of the title held by Muia and directed the rectification of the land register to revert ownership to the Government of Kenya.
Over the past year, the EACC has also recovered two additional properties in Machakos County through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
These include Machakos Municipality Block 2/7, a Ministry of Housing parcel allocated to the Judiciary, and Machakos Municipality Block 2/936, which forms part of Machakos Primary School land.
Speaking at the site of the recovered land, EACC Director of Legal Services and Asset Recovery, David K. Too, said the Commission is currently pursuing the recovery of assets worth approximately Sh363 million across Machakos, Kitui and Makueni counties.
He noted that this includes 13 parcels of Kenya Prisons land in Machakos County valued at about Sh60 million.
Too reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to reclaiming illegally acquired public assets and called on individuals and entities holding such property to voluntarily surrender it for its intended public use.
