Kenyans have many questions unanswered after the Deputy President William Ruto made his confesion yesterday. Why did he have to take this long to make the confession? How many other properties in his possession were acquired in a similar manner? How many other leaders are enjoying illicit properties which they haven’t declared? Ruto gets another blow after his admission that Weston, sits on land that was acquired illegally by the person who sold it to the hotel, in which he has an interest, has kicked up a storm, with some people demanding he surrender the property to the State.
Nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi said that Ruto should stop feigning ignorance about the matter. Anybody acquiring a property is required to carry out due diligence. His admission confirms the kind of person he is. He should surrender the property as a matter of principle. Osotsi added that the DP should go further and surrender the property to the Government.
“The confession by the DP is a positive step, but he should now hand it over to the Government to demonstrate good faith and integrity. But again, In other jurisdictions, Chapter 6 (on leadership and integrity) would have been invoked.” Speaking during BBC’s HARDtalk show with Stephen Sackur, Ruto for the first time admitted that the multi-million-shilling hotel was on land that belonged to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
Minority Leader in the National Assembly John Mbadi said the DP should surrender the property since he had admitted that it was illegally acquired. Mr Mbadi said it was an offence to handle stolen property, thus Dr Ruto should be held accountable. He mocked Ruto teling him that Chapter 6 (on leadership and integrity) would have been invoked to read, “Speaking during BBC’s HARD talk show with Stephen Sackur, Ruto for the first time admitted that the multi-million-shilling hotel was on land that belonged to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).”
Ruto defended Weston as an innocent buyer, arguing that it was the seller who had initially got the land illegally. “Weston Hotel is a big story,” he said when asked about it by Mr Sackur. “It was bought legally. The National Land Commission has made a finding that Weston was an innocent purchaser from somebody who got it illegally,” he said as he strove to absolve himself from blame.
“Reparations are being made constitutionally to restore the land to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority by demanding that those who sold the land to us must pay,” he added. The saga surrounding the acquisition of the land on which Weston sits has dominated public debate for years.
In January NLC released its findings, confirming that the land belonged to KCAA. However, NLC in a surprise ruling said Ruto could keep the hotel but pay KCAA at market value to enable it to find an alternative land to build its headquarters, as it had planned to do so on the 0.7733 hectares. “Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, having been restituted to its initial position, only then can the commission regularise the title to Weston Hotel,” NLC said in the ruling seen to have saved Weston from going down. This was contrary to the treatment of other illegally acquired public lands, where the Government has been swift to demolish structures.
Mr Kositany was in support of Ruto he said that nobody had perused documentation on the Weston land, which he (Ruto) stated were all Government documents issued through the right procedure. “All the documents the DP has are genuine, including the land title deed, and they were processed through the right Government procedures,”he added.