No respite for Ngong land registry as old corruption returns

By Obegi Malack

Ngong Land Registry is back to its old ways of corruption and forgery even after arrests and transfers in 2020 led to closure of the offices for over four months.

On January this year, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) arrested a land registrar for allegedly demanding a Ksh2.5 million bribe from a member of the public in order to process their title deed.

According to a source, Charles Mwendwa was arrested by EACC detectives while receiving Ksh900,000, an amount which was a bargain from the aforesaid bribe. The arrest was made after investigations following complaints by members of the public.

"On 7th December 2022, the Commission received a report from a member of the public who alleged that both Caroline Simuli Kituyi and Charles Mwendwa Mutua based in Ngong Land Registry were demanding a bribe from him in order to process the Title Deeds to his land," wrote EACC, adding that the duo was to share the amount. The registry was closed on November 5, 2020 after officers from the DCI and EACC raided the offices following reports of massive corruption.

The then Lands CS Farida Karon-