3 ex-NLC staff risk being barred from public office over illegal pay outs

Three former officials of the National Lands Commission (NLC) are at a risk of permanent prohibition from holding any public office if Members of Parliament adopt a report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

In a report presented to the National Assembly, the committee recommends that former NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri, suspended CEO Tom Aziz and former director Salome Munubi be disqualified from holding public office due to the loss of Sh215 million in taxpayer funds during their tenure.

The three were accused of participating in illegal behaviour by authorizing payment of Sh215 million in compensation without a harmonised value report from both the commission and the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, according to a report presented by PAC chairman and Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi.

“The payments were made contrary to the directives communicated by the principal secretary, Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning vide a letter dated 1 August, 2018,” reads the PAC report.

The payments were made to compensate people who had been harmed by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project.

According to the report, the PS indicated that the commission will pay out any impacted property whose valuation difference between NLC and Lands ministry numbers was less than 20 per cent.

In his letter to the commission, the PS noted that any variation between 21 per cent and 49 per cent would be revalued by a joint team from the NLC and the ministry in order to harmonize the values.

The PS further specified that any discrepancy of 50 per cent or more should be re-examined by the joint team in order to conduct a revaluation. This, however, was not followed by the NLC.

According to the committee, the commission’s compensation payment of Sh215 million was irregular and unlawful because it was made without harmonized assessments from both the NLC and the ministry.

“The committee holds the accounting officer at the material time, Tom Aziz Chavangi, the then chairman of the National Land Commission, Muhammad Swazuri ad the then director of valuation and taxation, Salome Munubi, directly liable for the loss of Sh215 million. For lack of proper explanation from the [NLC], the committee treats the amount of Sh215 billion as a loss to Kenyan taxpayers,” further reads the report.

The lands commission did not do due diligence before making the payment, according to Auditor General Nancy Gathungu’s special report on NLC remuneration between 2014 and 2017.

The SGR project path included parcels of land and projects in Makueni, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi counties.