Why Was Ex Land Commissioner Wilson Gachanja Arrested BY EACC? The arrest of Wilson Gachanja has made news in Kenya. He is accused of being involved in the unauthorized acquisition of public land.
Wilson was arrested by the EACC on June 20, 2022. The public has reacted angrily to the former government official.
With him were Zablon Mabeya, a former Senior Lands officer, and Jabu Salim Mohamed, a former Physical Planner.
The three criminals are presently being held at the EACC Integrity Centre Police Station and will appear in court shortly.
Why Was Ex Land Commissioner Wilson Gachanja Arrested BY EACC? What Crime Did He Commit?
Wilson Gachanja, the former Commissioner of Lands, got arrested by The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in Kwale Country.
He was put behind the bars alongside two others for aiding the illegal acquisition of public land. They are scheduled to appear at the Mombasa County court on June 21, 2022.
Wilson is allegedly involved in grabbing Kwale County, beach plot valued at Sh30 million ($255k).
EACC Chief Executive Officer Twalib Mbarak stated that Gachanja and Mabeya got listed in most of the pleadings filed in court seeking the recovery of illegally acquired public land. He further added that inquiry on more public land matters is going on.
People are hoping investigations will trigger a chain of effects to recover the public land from more public officials. EACC, the corruption watchdog, retrieved assets worth Sh6.3 billion in 2020/21.
Wilson Gachanja Net Worth Details
Wilson Gachanja has gathered millions of net worth in his career as a government officer. Although this is impressive, most of his wealth seems to have come from illegal routes.
Exact figures about his fortune have not surfaced on the internet. Some online sources have estimated his net worth to be more than $4 million.
Wilson has a long history of fraud and corruption. His name has popped up in several irregular land transfer deals. In 2010, the EACC marked him as a person of interest in several investigations.
According to a 2016 Business Daily Africa article, he took control of small public land and sold it to a private company. Gachanja was linked to over three hundred land acquisition cases.
Wilson Gachanja Wife And Family Info
Wilson Gachanja was married to his wife, Elizabeth Gitiri. He moved to Laikipia county a while ago. The couple and their relatives were charged with executing cold-blooded murder in 2000.
Gachanja was set free, but Elizabeth and her siblings, Francis Karioko and Rose Muruatetu were proved guilty. All three were proved to have involvement in the murder and were sentenced to death by Justice Mbogholi Msagha.
Court rules that former Commissioners of Lands Wilson Gachanja and James Raymond Njenga illegally granted three parcels of land belonging to Kenya School Of Government to investor Julie Nyawira Mathenge. pic.twitter.com/yBo8vJmDa2
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) March 29, 2022
We scoured the entire internet but could not find much information about his current wife and family. He may have not married after losing his wife in the early 2000s.
Wilson was not available on any social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The alleged land fraud case is the current talk of Twitter. A user wrote, “Gachanja must be praying day and night for victory in August 2022.
