The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has launched asset recovery operation to reclaim Sh1.5 billion from private firms following a landmark Court of Appeal ruling that found the multi-billion-shilling compensation paid over the land occupied by Ruaraka High School and Drive Inn Primary School was entirely unlawful, null, and void.

In a statement released on Monday, EACC Chief Executive Officer Abdi Mohamud welcomed the decisive July 3, 2026 judgment, confirming that with the civil aspect of the multi-billion-shilling scandal settled, the commission will immediately resubmit its criminal inquiry files to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to pursue the arrest and prosecution of high-profile public officers and individuals who facilitated the fraudulent payout.

The decision by the appellate court in Nairobi, delivered by Justices W. Karanja, F. Tuiyott, and W. Korir, completely dismantled an appeal filed by Afrison Export Import Limited and Huelands Limited, who had sought to overturn an earlier Environment and Land Court ruling that designated the disputed school land as public property.

The appellate judges agreed with the lower court’s findings that the 13.5-acre parcel (L.R. No. 7879/4) had already been surrendered to the State as a mandatory condition for subdivision approval way back in 1981, meaning it could not legally be treated as private land eligible for compulsory acquisition.

The bench clarified that the National Land Commission (NLC) had zero legal basis to acquire property already owned by the State, ruling that the doctrine of eminent domain applies strictly when the government takes private property for public utility, thereby rendering the Sh1.5 billion paid out a massive financial blunder made under a mistake of both law and fact.

The corporate entities had aggressively petitioned the court to declare them the rightful owners of the land and sought to compel the state to pay them an additional Sh1.769 billion in pending compensation, but all their prayers were dismissed with costs.

Court records reveal that the land saga began in 2015 when a compensation claim was lodged before the NLC, sparking an intensive joint investigation by the EACC, the Ministry of Lands, the Ministry of Education, and the Nairobi City County government.

Investigators successfully recovered the original title deed, placed a restrictive caveat on the multi-acre property to shield it from further encroachment, and proved that the land had legally transitioned into public hands decades ago.

With the legal technicalities cleared by the Court of Appeal, the anti-graft watchdog has finalized its recovery path to claw back the Sh1.5 billion from Afrison Export Import Limited and Huelands Limited through Whispering Palms Estate Limited.

Furthermore, Mohamud revealed that criminal investigations into the public officers who engineered the illegal transaction have long been completed.

The original prosecution file had been forwarded to the DPP on February 11, 2025, but further criminal action was stayed to await the outcome of this civil appeal.