You may think that this is a fictional tale you’re reading, but such a bizarre coincidence can only occur in a Banana Republic like Kenya, where two individuals who are still active partners of the same law-firm, are appointed to head constitutional offices with converging mutual interests.
This is the case of Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto and National Land Commission Chairman Gershom Otachi, both recruited by former Solicitor General Njee Muturi, who assured the appointing authority that these two would navigate the muddy terrain of land ownership, and clean up all his messy files in any national or county jurisdiction.
For those not in the know, a solicitor general acts as the Government’s legal advisor as regards to commercial undertakings. All contracts signed by Government must pass through the SG’s office for approval in-order to shield the Government from any unforeseen legal action.
Such is the importance of this position that President Uhuru Kenyatta handed it to Njee Muturi, a former St. Mary’s school-mate in line with the Kenyatta family mantra of rewarding cronies and sycophants as opposed to elevating merit. Njee who had no solid legal experience, would then go ahead and run down the institution until Uhuru had no choice but to redeploy him.
Today, Muturi is the unofficial Presidential errand boy tasked with menial tasks such as getting Mike Mbuvi Sonko inebriated and compelling him to sign over devolved functions back to the National Government. He’s also frequently seen in the corridors of parliament lobbying members to pass retrogressive bills or execute “coups” on errant members.
Njee Muturi is said to have drafted the letter that Irungu Kangata refused to sign, where an imposed apology was meant to have been read out publicly by the Muranga Senator, in-exchange for immunity against sanction. A fierce loyalist & diehard sycophant, Njee has known nothing else in his life other than trailing Uhuru Kenyatta for employment opportunities and the thought of his retirement is giving him sleepless nights.
It is in this spirit that Muturi recruited pliable and easily manipulated individuals to head the Solicitor General’s office and the National Land Commission, both of which are of immense interest to the President and his family’s interests.
All this coincides with the Government undertaking legacy projects, which need intense legal input, meant to secure the interests of the corrupt structures within the corridors of power, who have worked to inflate tender costs and compensation rates.
So arrogant is Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto that just last month, he deliberately gave the Public Investments Committee hearings a wide-berth, after he was assured by Njee Muturi that the President would cover him with political protection. The PIC was investigating the KEMSA Covid Billionaires scam, where Ogeto fraudulently gave the green-light for the government to spend Kshs. 7.8 Billion on shadowy companies which didn’t deliver anything.
That’s the kind of clout that Njee Muturi wields, which scares elected members and senior Government officials.
The latest scam that Kennedy Ogeto is overseeing on behalf of Njee Muturi is the compensation of land, where the massive Express Way beginning from Mombasa Road all the way to James Gichuru Road, is being undertaken.
You may notice the artificial delays of the construction of the road project from Waiyaki Way to Rironi, where despite massive mobilization by the Chinese Contractor, the project is only halfway done so far. A spot check would reveal that court cases as regards to compensation have precipitated these artificial delays, as the taxpayer continues to foot the contractor’s accumulated costs.
What is the biggest scam in the country currently?
Well compensation is the deal. Mombasa Road is a concessional project meaning the contractor will build it and recover his costs from toll fee’s charged per vehicle. Meaning that from what we know, Kenya will not pay the contractor any money.
However the Kenya Government by law, must compensate the land owners along Mombasa Road, whose land will be affected by the project. So far, Treasury has release Kshs. 21 Billion to the National Land Commission to compensate land owners.
Now this is where the scam is.
Individuals are being subjected to cosmetic delays in compensation, and being given subliminal options to sue the Government in court, using the same law-firm owned by both Kennedy Ogeto and Gershom Otachi, Ogeto Otachi & Co., Advocates.
The Nairobi Expressway is causing such a domino effect as regards to disruption, that any delay will bring business in Nairobi to a grinding halt. And Kenyans will be shocked to hear that these delays are being artificially created at the Chairman of the National Land Commission’s office.
A quick drive on Mombasa Road to Waiyaki Way will reveal stark difference in the stage and phase of work, despite a proportionate mobilization effort by the Chinese Contractor on site. Those areas where the pillars haven’t been mounted are parcels of land with contentious cases instigated by the NLC Chairman himself.
You see, the NLC Chairman has appropriated himself and usurped all the executive roles and functions of the commission his office has become a hub of forgery and duplication of documents in connection with a know criminal and land grabber Simon Nyamanya Ondiba, who was recently arrested by the DCI for forgery.
Notice a suspicious pattern? All the three aforementioned are members of one community.
Unbeknownst to Uhuru and his trusted aide Njee Muturi, the trio have formed a very solid criminal network, where forgery and extortion of prospective beneficiaries of land compensation, is their biggest operation so far. However while Njee may not be part of this axis of evil, he has benefited from this network albeit through proxy.
The NLC Chairman Gershom Otachi redistributed the roles of commissioners in the appeals process, and that function is being single-handedly run from his office.
As many celebrated the removal of Dr. Muhammad Swazuri who is facing criminal charges over the fraudulent manner in which he managed the SGR land compensation process, another hungrier hyena was making his way into the commission to repeat the same cycle of corruption, albeit in a new project.
Kenyans cannot wait for the next 18 months to end so that Uhuru’s tenure can end and he can go home and save us from the grand corruption we are witnessing every day.
