Recently in one of Ruto’s hardest conversations to maintain, an issue of a controversial land implicating Deputy president William Ruto of land grabbing has given birth to a new side of Ruto giving Kenyans a hard time to trust the man.
The DP during the interview on BBC’s HARDtalk show hosted by Stephen Sackur admitted that the land on which the controversial Weston Hotel linked to him sits on was acquired illegally.
However, according to Ruto, he “innocently” bought the land from its original owners, who had “illegally” obtained it.
“For the record, the National Land Commission has made a finding that Weston was an innocent purchaser for value from somebody who got it illegally, and preparations have been made constitutionally to restore that land to Kenya Civil Aviation Authority by demanding that those who sold the land to us must pay,” said Ruto.
A while back in the war,the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) wrote to the National Land Commission (NLC), alleging that Weston stands on its land, which was irregularly acquired.
Later on Mr Ruto’s lawyer, Ahmednasir Abdullahi, appeared before the NLC at a sitting presided over by Vice Chairperson Abigael Mbagaya to defend the deputy president’s acquisition of the plot on Lang’ata Road.
He questioned the commission’s juridiction to determine the ownership of the land.
NLC had written to Weston Hotel Limited to appear before it to defend its land papers in reply to the KCAA petition. Ruto, Rachel Chebet Kimeto and Charlene Chelagat Ruto are listed as the hotel’s directors.
Mr Abdullahi denied that his client had acquired the land irregularly, saying no one had come forward to claim the property since it was acquired. He also said no complaint had been received from the State or any individual during the hotel’s construction.
Do you believe Ruto is an innocent man in the land saga?