After 19 years, Sh115.4 million lands at NLC for Vihiga road-take families
Key points
- CAJ says Sh115,419,689 moved from the State Department for Roads through KeRRA to NLC on 6 May 2026 for Shamakhokho, Vihiga, landowners.
- Land was taken in 2007 for the Kipsigak–Serem–Shamakhokho road; residents complained to the Kisumu ombudsman office in 2017.
- NLC issued awards in March 2023; KeRRA then cited a Treasury squeeze. CAJ summoned KeRRA officials through 2024–25.
- The show-cause against the Roads PS is lifted, but CAJ still recommends prosecution under Section 52 for ignored summons. NLC has 30 days to pay and report.
Nineteen years after the graders, the money finally left a ministry account. The Commission on Administrative Justice said Sh115,419,689 was transferred on 6 May 2026 from the State Department for Roads through KeRRA to the National Land Commission for families in Shamakhokho, Vihiga, Eastleigh Voice reported.
The land was compulsorily acquired in 2007 for the Kipsigak–Serem–Shamakhokho road. Residents reached CAJ’s Kisumu office in 2017 still unpaid. Then the paper trail split: the Roads Act, 2007 parked the road with KeRRA; the Land Act, 2012 moved acquisition from the old Commissioner of Lands to NLC. Inspections, valuations and public inquiries eventually produced awards. In March 2023 NLC told CAJ the awards were out and asked KeRRA for cash; KeRRA said it was waiting on Treasury. CAJ kept writing through 2024 and 2025 and summoned senior KeRRA officers. After the May transfer it lifted a notice to show cause against the Roads Principal Secretary — but left standing a recommendation to prosecute that PS under Section 52 of the CAJ Act for failing to honour lawful summons. NLC is now told to pay verified awards and update the Commission within 30 days.
A transfer slip is not a title-holder’s cheque
Money at NLC can sit in another queue. Families will believe this file when names and amounts appear on payment schedules, not when an ombudsman press note lands.
Kenya news: Kenya News. Verified shilling figure, 6 May date, 2007 acquisition and Section 52 hold from Eastleigh Voice / CAJ.
NLC should publish the Shamakhokho award list within the 30-day window. KeRRA should say which other 2007-era road takes are still unpaid.
Residents should keep their 2017 complaint numbers; a transfer without a pay run is still a wait.
Readers should cross-check any deadline, fee, court date or programme claim against primary gazettes, agency circulars and court records before acting on this report.
Official gazettes, court rulings and agency circulars may update these facts after publication; readers should verify any deadline, fee or court date against primary sources before acting.
Based on Eastleigh Voice reporting of the CAJ statement. Individual payouts depend on NLC verification.
