John Joseph Kamotho, the late former Cabinet Minister and one-time powerful Kanu secretary-general.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered a prime property in Gigiri forming part of Karura Forest and Kenya Teachers Training College (KTTC) that had been grabbed by the former Cabinet Minister and Kanu Secretary-General John Joseph Kamotho.
The recovery comes after a landmark judgment by the Environment and Land Court in Nairobi on October 23, 2025, that declared the 7.11-hectare (17.5 acres) parcel of land, valued at Sh2.8 billion, as public property.
The court ruling, delivered by Justice David Mwangi, ended an 18-year legal battle that began in 2007 when the then Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, which was succeeded by the EACC, filed a suit to challenge the illegal alienation of the land.
The contested property, registered as Nairobi Block 91/386, lies in Gigiri and forms part of Karura Forest and institutional land reserved for the KTTC. Investigations revealed that the land had been irregularly created and transferred to Gigiri Court Limited, a company associated with Mr Kamotho who died in December 2014.
In the early 1990s, Mr Kamotho obtained two adjacent parcels, Nairobi Block 91/130, measuring 0.566 hectares and originally set aside for KTTC, and an additional 2.5 hectares illegally hived off from Karura Forest. The two parcels were later amalgamated to form Nairobi Block 91/333, which was registered in the name of Gigiri Court Limited in 1994.
Mr Kamotho later sold the company, along with the illegally acquired land, to Mandip Singh Amrit and Manjit Singh Amrit for six million shillings. The new owners subsequently commissioned a private survey that extended the property by an additional 3.8 hectares, which was also unlawfully taken from Karura Forest.
The expanded property, Nairobi Block 91/386, was then issued with a lease by the then Commissioner of Lands, Wilson Gacanja, on September 6, 1995, for residential use. This marked the culmination of a series of fraudulent transactions and abuse of public office that occurred between 1987 and 1995.
Investigations by the EACC established that the land in question was public property, being part of a gazetted forest and institutional reserve, and therefore could not lawfully be allocated to private individuals.
The transactions were conducted without the required degazettement of the forest or approval from the relevant authorities, rendering all titles arising from the process null and void.
The court found that the actions of Mr Gacanja and his predecessor, James Raymond Njenga, both former Commissioners of Lands, were illegal and beyond the powers of their offices. Justice Mwangi ruled that the two bore personal responsibility for the illegal allocation of public land.
In his judgment, Justice Mwangi declared that the Certificate of Lease issued to Gigiri Court Limited was null and void and could not confer valid ownership rights. He emphasized that the land was alienated government land and its allocation to Kamotho violated both the Forest Act and the Government Lands Act.
The court further affirmed that the property was reserved for KTTC and Karura Forest.
Hailed ruling
The ruling reaffirmed the constitutional principle under Article 40(6), which provides that the right to property does not extend to assets acquired unlawfully, thereby rejecting the argument that first registration of a title can legitimise an illegal acquisition.
Following the court’s decision, the property will revert to public ownership and remain under the protection of the State. The ruling is being widely hailed as a historic win in Kenya’s ongoing battle against land grabbing, a problem that has long plagued public institutions, conservation areas, and government lands.
Speaking at Karura Forest yesterday after touring the grabbed land alongside Kenya Forest Service (KFS) senior officials, EACC Chief Executive Officer, Abdi Mohamud, hailed the judgement as a major win in their execution of their mandate to protect public assets.
“This judgment marks a major victory for the protection of public land. The recovered parcel, reserved partly as forest land and partly as institutional land, now reverts to the public and remains public property,” he said.
The Karura case has drawn special attention given the forest’s environmental and historical significance. Once threatened by encroachment and illegal development, Karura Forest has since become a national symbol of conservation and civic activism.
The recovery of this parcel strengthens efforts to preserve the forest’s integrity and reaffirms the State’s commitment to protecting public land from private greed.
On her part, Beatrice Mbula, the KFS, Deputy Chief Conservator of Forest, said the judgment by the court was a step in the right direction and would help the Service in fighting the challenge of land grabbing and encroachment of forests.
“We are glad that this parcel that had been grabbed is now back to our protection and we will continue protecting all our resources. Forests are very important as our water catchment areas as well as biodiversity conservation,” she said.
The court also cancelled the Certificate of Lease that had been issued to Gigiri Court Limited was cancelled by the Court and directed that a new lease title will be issued to the two affected institutions- the College and Karura Forest.
In the recent past, the Commission has intensified its asset recovery efforts across the country, with more than 80 recovery suits filed over the past year targeting properties valued at approximately Sh4.8 billion.
Among the notable successes are the recovery of a road reserve in Nyali, Mombasa, worth Sh30 million, which had been grabbed despite being set aside for the expansion of Links Road, and a prime parcel of land valued at Sh35million belonging to the State Department for Housing and Urban Development near the Bungoma State Lodge.
EACC has also recovered six prime properties worth Sh75.4 million from former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and former Nairobi County Treasury head Stephen Osiro, which have already been auctioned, with more assets expected to be sold soon. Also, Sh50 million-worth public land within the Kenya Railways Light House at Kizingo Estate in Mombasa has been reclaimed for the Kenya Railways Corporation.
These recoveries, Mr Mohamud said, demonstrate the commission’s continued commitment to safeguarding public resources and holding accountable those who misuse their offices for private gain.
“We want to reassure the public that not only forests but all public land that is stolen or illegally stolen from individuals will be recovered. It does not matter how long it takes. This particular case has taken 18 years, but we will recover it and hand it over to the public,” he said.
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