The Big Story
Preparations for construction continued on prime public property
linked to Goldenberg man Kamlesh Pattni in spite of fresh orders by
Lands minister James Orengo stopping dealings in the plot.
Mr Orengo ordered all transactions halted on the property given
to a company believed to be associated with Mr Pattni, describing the
whole thing as “tainted with fraud”.
It has also
emerged that the original title deed and file on the property has
vanished from Lands.
Stopped dealings
The
property on Museum Hill in Nairobi was transferred to Galaxy Walker
Ltd, believed to be linked with Mr Pattni even though there were orders,
called caveats, that it should not be transferred or sold.
On
Monday, Lands minister James Orengo said the government has stopped all
dealings on the four-acre plot and said the Cabinet will decide what
ought to be done.
But the tenants have been evicted,
the property fenced off ready for re-development. The minister’s
decision is rather late in the day. NIC bank has already sold the land
to Galaxy Walker, which was issued with a title deed in November 2008.
Last
May, the land was again transferred to Azarel Investment Ltd “for Sh205
million”, according to documents seen by the Nation. The lease has been
extended to 50 years.
Not only have the records of the
property vanished, its registration number has been changed too.
Mr
Pattni, now a preacher, is best known for the Goldenberg frauds of the
1990s in which Treasury paid billions of shillings for fictitious gold
exports. A judicial commission of inquiry damned him, but he has never
been successfully prosecuted.
The land was first leased
to Tourist Paradise Investments in 1969 to put up a casino. When the
lease expired, the conditions of renewal required that the property,
together with all developments, revert to the government in seven years.
Retired
President Moi extended the lease in June 1990 with a one-word
authorisation: He wrote “Approved”, signed and dated the application for
extension.
“I directed that a cabinet memorandum be prepared on the transaction so that the matter can be handled at the Cabinet level,” he said.
“I directed that a cabinet memorandum be prepared on the transaction so that the matter can be handled at the Cabinet level,” he said.
Mr Orengo said he ordered an end to transactions
when he realised that he and the Commissioner of Lands had not been
given all the facts.
Cabinet paper
“In
order to ensure that public interest is not undermined and there is
accountability and transparency in resolving this matter, I direct that a
Cabinet paper be prepared to seek Cabinet’s guidance and final
decision,” Mr Orengo said in a letter to his PS.