Court hands back grabbed Malindi land to National Police Service

The High Court on Monday ordered that a parcel of land in Malindi valued at Ksh.35 million that was grabbed by a private developer and sold to another individual be returned to the National Police Service.

The Court cancelled the unlawful acquisition of the land which had been reserved  for construction of police houses in Malindi, according to the Malindi Development Plan.

High Court Judge Oscar Angote ordered that the title be cancelled after he found that the land had been acquired and sold to, Mr. Farooq Imtiaz Mohamed Malik, using forged documents.

Mr. Malik moved to court in 2015 challenging a move by the Director of Police Investments, the Inspector General of Police as well as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to stop his takeover of the land.

Justice Angote agreed with the arguments of EACC and the Inspector General of Police that the land was reserved for government housing and was not available for alienation.

The court found that the land was never allocated initially to the Head of Redeemed Gospel Church, Archbishop Arthur Kitonga, as claimed by the person who sold the land to Mr. Malik.

Archbishop Kitonga told the court in his statement that he was never allocated the land and he did not sell it to Mr. Omar Khamis Balleth.

The court found that the letter of allotment and transfer document purported to have been signed by the initial allottee, Arcbishop Kitonga, and subsequently used to sell the land to Mr. Malik were forged.

Documents from the lands registry which were submitted by EACC in court as evidence also indicated that the land was reserved for government houses and was not available for allocation.

“When the Commissioner of Lands or any other public body purports to allocate land set aside for a public purpose, the court will not hesitate to cancel such a title,” said Justice Angote.

“The Provisions of the Constitution of Kenya gives powers to the court to cancel any title deed acquired unlawfully regardless of the circumstances.”

The court subsequently ruled that the title deed issued to Mr. Omar Khamis Balleth who sold the land to Mr. Malik, is null and void. Mr. Malik has no valid title also, the court ordered.

The judge also cancelled the title deed, reverting the land to the Government.

Mr. Malik will pay the cost of the suit to all the parties he sued.