The government has regained control of a 1.05-acre parcel of land containing three government houses in Kakamega Town following legal proceedings over its alleged unlawful allocation to a private individual.
The property, estimated to be worth Sh40 million, is located in Milimani, near the Kakamega State Lodge, and belongs to the State Department for Housing and Urban Development.
The recovery was formalised on September 22, 2026, when Justice A. Nyukuri adopted a consent agreement requiring Macdonald Lijoodi Makaka to surrender his ownership rights to the property. The court also ordered the Chief Land Registrar to amend the land register by removing entries relating to the lease previously issued to Makaka.
The dispute arose from a case filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) against Makaka and Wilson Gacanja, the former Commissioner of Lands, in Environment and Land Court Case No. E009 of 2024. The proceedings challenged the allocation and registration of the property, identified as Kakamega Municipality Block III/212, in the name of a private individual.
Investigations by the commission established that the land had been designated for government housing and developed for public use, making it unavailable for private allocation. Despite its reserved status, a letter of allotment was issued to Makaka on December 10, 1992. A lease was subsequently registered in his name on June 4, 1993.
The three houses remained in government use and were recorded in the official Government Building Register under the references KAKA/HOU/MG/33, KAKA/HOU/MG/34 and KAKA/HOU/T/HG/4.
The commission is pursuing the cancellation of the disputed title and the formal transfer and registration of the property in the government’s name. The process is intended to restore the state’s legal ownership of the land and protect the property for continued public use.
