Ksh 35 Billion SGR Land Payouts Gets Swazuri In Trouble

By Clinton Ochieng

Muhamad Swazuri, former NLC chairman is in trouble after details surfaced that he instructed Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) to directly pay 12 billion shillings to persons affected by the SGR project in total violation of the law.

Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also learned that some of the documents used in an additional Sh23 billion in compensation were not verified. They did not also have signatures authorizing the payments, raising suspicion on their validity.

The law requires that the acquiring entity forwards such money to NLC, which subsequently conducts assessment before making payments.

Some of the compensations were also done without conducting an official search to make certain of land ownership while in some instances, the railway line was rerouted after the land had been paid for, leading to loss of taxpayers’ money running into hundreds of millions.

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Swazuri and some of the former commission officials are currently in court facing cases over alleged corruption relating to land compensation.

The fresh details emerged when the suspended CEO Tom Chavangi appeared before the team investigating the matter flagged by an audit by the Office of the Auditor-General.

However, Chavangi could not respond to most of the questions raised for lack of documentation after the court barred him from accessing the offices until a matter in court involving him is determined.

The audit established that the valuation schedule used as a basis of effecting compensation payments totaling 7,741,072,555 shillings were not dated, signed, or availed.

It also arose that KRC initially acquired 12.98 hectares for the construction of a station at Sultan Hamud, but later redesigned the SGR route resulting in the station’s transfer to Emali.