MPs Grill KBC CEO on Missing Land Title Deeds
Samuel Maina, the acting managing director of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), disclosed to Parliament that the national broadcaster does not own the land on which its Nairobi headquarters is situated, opposite the Norfolk Hotel.
According to Maina, an audit report revealed that the land is not registered in the Corporation’s name, but under another identity.
The head of the national broadcaster appeared before the Public Investments Committee on Social Services Administration and Agriculture to provide information about State Corporation-owned parcels of property.
The committee inquired as to why KBC had acquired only eight title deeds for their forty parcels of land, noting that it was difficult to confirm the land’s ownership status.
“Today as we speak, it is difficult to tell how much land KBC owns and how secure the land is. A report for the period covering the years 2010/2011 cited a lack of titles, yet 12 years down the line, there is still no progress to remedy the situation. These revelations are a threat to government land”, stated Hon. Emanuel Wangwe, the committee chair.
The parliamentary committee inquired further as to why KBC did not supply ten parcels of land for auditing.
In response, the MD reassured the legislators that the company is in the process of procuring land titles for many of its properties.
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“Chair, we have fenced our land and also provided police protection. We do this because we have transmitters on this land. For instance, our Jamuhuri, Meru, and Nyambene parcels of land are well secured”, stated the MD.
However, he also noted that the national broadcaster is engaged in land ownership disputes with squatters who have encroached upon their 23-acre and 1,200-acre land parcels in Nyali and Komarock along Kangundo road.
In addition, he explained that KBC is presently involved in a legal dispute with Housing Finance, to whom a portion of the Sauti House land in Mombasa was sold.
When asked about land utilization, the MD stated that KBC leases parcels of land in Kitale for Kshs 12,000 per acre and in Morania in Meru County for Kshs 38,000 per acre for agricultural purposes.
The committee chaired by Emanuel Wangwe also tasked the MD with explaining why Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KENGEN) had not returned Kshs 29 million worth of generators on loan from the broadcaster.
In response, the MD stated that the loans had been written off by the Corporation’s board of directors.
The committee criticized this decision, citing the Public Procurement and Management (Pfm) Act, which stipulates that the National Treasury must approve any write-offs.
As a result, the parliamentary committee requested that the MD and KBC’s Board of Management appear before them for further explanation.
MPs Grill KBC CEO on Missing Land Title Deeds
