Michael Nyaguti, the chairman of a Kisumu-based NGO called Magnum Environment Network has been accused of extortion.
Various stakeholders and residents of Kisumu county have called upon Nyanza regional police commander Noah Mwivanda and his DCI counterpart Daniel Kipsoi to investigate the activities of Michael Nyaguti.
According to complaints, the NGO is claimed to be a briefcase one with no donor funding surviving fully on extortion and threats.
Kenyan Bulletin has been informed that last week, a victim was planning to institute private criminal charges against Michael Nyaguti’s NGO.
Stakeholders are accusing Nyaguti of extortion and blackmail of people under the guise of encroaching on water catchment areas and flouting environmental laws failure of which he always resorts to going to courts as an interested party of the said social vice.
One of the victims narrated to Weekly Citizen that sometimes back, he was developing rental houses near Lake Victoria and had been given all the required documents from the county, Nema, and all relevant authorities to commence his work.
Nyaguti would later appear menacing at the site with a group of people he called officials of Magnum Environment Network accompanied by some people who looked like police officers who demanded that I show them documents in regard to what I was doing.
Most developers ranging from real estate to hospitable industries are saying that they are really undergoing rough times in the hands of the said Nyaguti who on most occasions is accompanied by some rogue police officers who intimidate and threaten their respective targets with arrests.
According to developers, Nyaguti had sometimes back attempted to extort Sh5 million each from former governors Evans Kidero and Jack Ranguma, together with a senior leading civil servant under the guise that they had bought land which should have been part of Lake Victoria.
Magnum chairman Michael Nyanguti said wetland reclamation is untenable in law without wide consultations with players such as the National Environmental Management Authority and the Water Resource Authority.
“An environmental impact assessment has not been carried out and no licence has been issued by Nema and the National Construction Authority as required by law for a project of this magnitude,” he said.
Kericho Environment and Land Court justice M Onyango on May 2 gave the orders after hearing both the counsel for the respondents(county government and golf club) and petitioner (in person).
“The petitioner clarified that he has no objection to the development around the port and the removal of the water hyacinth. With regards to the wetlands, he has demonstrated that the developments started without the necessary license from Nema and the WRA. He alluded to the absence of public participation which is a key step in the development of this nature,” Onyango said.
