KSh115 million transferred to compensate select Kenyans after 19-year delay

The Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman) has confirmed the transfer of over Ksh100 million to be used as compensation to residents of Shamakhokho in Vihiga County for land acquired nearly two decades ago after the office intervened in the long-running dispute.

In a statement, the Office of the Ombudsman said that more than KSh115 million has been transferred to the National Land Commission (NLC) to facilitate compensation for residents whose land was compulsorily acquired for the construction of the Kipsigak-Serem-Shamakhokho Road.

KSh115,419,689 was transferred by the State Department for Roads through the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) to the NLC on May 6, 2026.

The funds are intended to settle compensation claims arising from the acquisition of the affected parcels of land.

This follows years of intervention and follow-up by the Ombudsman over the failure by government agencies to conclude the acquisition process and compensate the affected landowners.

The residents first lodged a complaint with the Commission's Kisumu Regional Office in 2017, alleging that their land had been acquired in 2007 for the road project but that they had never received the compensation due to them.

The acquisition had been gazetted in May 2007, but the compensation process subsequently became entangled in administrative and institutional delays.

The matter had also previously been raised with the Ministry of Transport in 2012, but remained unresolved.

Following the 2017 complaint, the Commission began engaging KeRRA, the State Department responsible for roads and NLC to establish the status of the acquisition and compensation process.

The inquiry revealed that the acquisition process had initially been undertaken by the then Ministry of Roads before responsibility for the road was transferred to KeRRA following the enactment and operationalisation of the Roads Act, 2007.

The process was later affected by the Land Act, 2012, which transferred responsibility for compulsory land acquisition from the Commissioner of Lands to the NLC.

Despite renewed efforts to conclude the process, the compensation continued to face delays.

A joint team from KeRRA and the NLC eventually conducted inspection and valuation of the affected parcels in July 2018.

The exercise was expected to pave the way for individual compensation awards and preparation of a payment schedule. However, the anticipated completion of the process by 2019 did not materialize.

Further delays followed as the agencies awaited compensation awards, payment schedules and funding.

Public inquiries and claim hearings were eventually conducted in April 2021, while KeRRA continued to report that it was awaiting the NLC to issue the necessary awards.

By 2023, NLC had informed CAJ that compensation awards had been issued and that it had requested funds from KeRRA for payment to the affected persons.

KeRRA, however, said it could not release the funds because of budgetary constraints and had sought an allocation from the National Treasury.

The Commission continued pursuing the matter through 2023, 2024 and 2025 as the compensation remained outstanding.

In September 2025, the Commission summoned the Acting Director General of KeRRA over the continued delay.

The inquiry was later escalated to the Principal Secretary, State Department for Roads, through a series of inquiries, reminders and notices.

The Commission eventually summoned the Principal Secretary to appear before it in May 2026.

Although he responded in writing, CAJ found that the response did not provide specific timelines or concrete measures for settling the outstanding claims.

A further summons requiring his appearance before the Commission on July 7, 2026, was not honoured.

Following the failure to comply with the summons, the Commission prepared a recommendation for prosecution under Section 52 of the Commission on Administrative Justice Act, 2011.

The recommendation was received by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) on July 30.

Also, the Ombudsman issued a Notice to Show Cause requiring the Principal Secretary to explain why he should not be cited as an unresponsive public officer.

The situation changed after CAJ received a letter from the Principal Secretary dated August 3 confirming that the State Department for Roads, through KeRRA, had transferred the KSh115.4 million to the NLC on May 6.

The Commission subsequently lifted the Notice to Show Cause/Citation Notice against the Principal Secretary following confirmation of the payment.

However, the recommendation for prosecution remains in force, according to CAJ.

The Ombudsman has now written to the NLC urging it to take all necessary steps to ensure the compensation is processed and paid to the affected Project Affected Persons without further delay.

NLC has also been asked to provide an update on the verification, award and completion of payment process within 30 days.