Justice Sila Munyao, the judge of the Environment and Lands court once fell victim to the land grabbing menace in Nakuru county. The arbitrator in numerous high profile land disputes had to fight to the last tooth to regain proprietorship of the prime parcel of land in Naka estate.

In 2010, then an advocate of the high court in private practice, he decided to invest in the most coveted property in the country.

Well aware of the conman ship in the land sector courtesy of the numerous clients he had represented, Mr Munyao made sure to conduct his due diligence before parting with his savings for the parcel of land.

Read: Lands of Deceit: The far-reaching tentacles of land grabbers in Nakuru County

And after ascertaining the land against the records at the lands office, he bought the land, took possession and fenced it off using a barbed wire.

He was however, not in a hurry since his plan was to develop it gradually and deposited building materials in order to erect a permanent wall around it.

All went well until sometime in 2018 when he and his wife Linda made an unplanned tour of the land, only to meet a scene that left them confused.

Two men were working on the land, digging holes to erect other poles and fence it off.

Mr Munyao, now a judge was left in shock. When he asked them what they were doing on his property, he was informed that they had been assigned the work by a purported owner of the land, a Mr Peter Odande, whom they were more than willing to link the judge to.

When he called Mr Odande, he was surprised to learn that he claimed the land.

Also Read: Lands of Deceit: How wife managed to sell husband's land in Kirima, Menengai slopes

Mr Odande even arrived and produced documents to prove ownership of the said parcel.

What came into his mind is that this was a con game which could only be resolved by the lands registrar.

Another shock that he found at the registry was that the title was registered under a different name Sally Cherutich.

The judge could not believe it. Seeing the con game unravel right before his own eyes, he decided to seek the help of the Directorate of Criminal investigation.

The detectives however relied on the information they received from the lands office in Nakuru.

They in fact launched investigations against him, after his records could not be traced at the lands office.

Related: Lands of Deceit: The day a Lands court Judge fell prey to suspected land grabbers (Part 2)

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Lands of Deceit: The day a Lands court Judge fell prey to suspected land grabbers (Part 1)

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