For an institution that was mandated to address historical land injustices, it is curious that one NLC commissioner is being accused by communities in Isiolo County for perpetrating land grabbing in the area. Abdikadir Khalif previously managed a land surveying company called Frontier Surveyors in Isiolo Town before his appointment to the NLC.
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| Mr. Abdikadir Khalif |
Just as the country is awaiting the arraignment in court of NLC Chairman Mohamed Swazuri to face corruption allegations, a new NLC commissioner is embroiled in a scandal over illegal land transfers in Isiolo County.
For an institution that was mandated to address historical land injustices, it is curious that one NLC commissioner is being accused by communities in Isiolo County for perpetrating land grabbing in the area. Abdikadir Khalif previously managed a land surveying company called Frontier Surveyors in Isiolo Town before his appointment to the NLC.
Taking advantage of Isiolo’s remoteness and the low literacy levels in the marginalized county, the commissioner’s firm perpetrated land fraud on a massive scale, which has enabled well-connected businessmen to grab prime plots including the former KANU party office, land belonging to the Kenya Prisons and another for a public school.
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| Commissioner Abdikadir Khalif American passport number 429770698 |
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| Commissioner Abdikadir Khalif Kenyan passport number A1915288 |
While he nominally left the company upon his appointment, the commissioner continues to direct the firm’s work through a proxy while he uses his public office as NLC commissioner to advance his interests in the firm. Among the firm’s activities, during and after Mr Khalif’s management of it, include the transfer of the plot that housed the local KANU office through fraudulent means.
The documents used for the transfer allege that the land was sold by KANU national leaders, yet local officials were not aware of any such sale. The company also oversaw the transfer of 30 acres of prison land as the facility was relocated to a yet-unidentified land out of the town. The grabbed land is now due for partitioning and sub-division.
Also grabbed is land belonging to Wabera Primary School, which is named after the famed late freedom fighter Said Wabera who was latter appointed the first African DC of Isiolo by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. The land is five acres. Isiolo Market users have also sued for the revocation of their use right to the facility, which has been grabbed.
All these transactions were conducted by Frontier Surveyors. The company’s unprofessional and patently corrupt land adjudications were endorsed by NLC, thanks to Mr Khalif’s membership of the commission. As the transactions have caused tensions in the region in recent months, complainants and land activists have also become aware that the commissioner, who holds dual Kenyan and American citizenship, might be planning to relocate to the US to avoid scrutiny over his actions.
Community leaders in isiolo claim that Mr Khalif has been investing huge sums of money in the US in readiness for relocation upon the expiry of his term early next year. In February, the residents wrote a memorandum to the NLC and other government agencies calling for full investigations into Mr Khalif and his company.
“After a short stint in Isiolo, [Mr Khalif] left the work of surveying the said lands under the supervision of one Mr Ibrahim Jari, a quack who robbed Isiolo residents millions of shillings under the cover of the said commissioner’s professional certificate. Most of the current land dispute issues within Isiolo Central are as a result of the dubious survey work done by the said company,” the complainants said in a memorandum to NLC Chairman Swazuri.
The memorandum was also deposited with at least ten other institutions, including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the National Police, the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights and civil society groups like the Kenya Land Alliance and Kituo cha Sheria.
Among the signers of the memorandum were elected representatives of the Borana, Turkana and Somali Councils of Elders, local land activists, politicians, victims of land injustices and market users.
The detailed memorandum identifies lands in such areas as Mwangaza, Kambi Juu, Kisima, Gambela, Badhan All Warion, Burat, Artha Jilla, Ngare Mara, Goti, Boji Dera and Badhan Shidha among other areas crying for investigation.
This website could not reach Mr Khalif for his response to the elders’ allegations as he was not picking calls to his regular number. We could also not verify whether Mr Khalif disclosed the issue of his dual citizenship to the commission during his vetting.
It is not normal under the Kenyan law for dual citizens to hold constitutional offices such as membership of independent commissions.Commissioner Khalif holds an American passport number 429770696 that indicates his place of birth as Somalia and a Kenyan passport number A1915288 indicating his place of birth as Wajir, Kenya.
The un-tenability of dual citizens holding constitutional jobs arose following the resignation of former IEBC commissioner Roselyn Akombe, who also did not disclose her dual Kenyan and American citizenship at the time of her appointment.
If, as the activists claim, Mr Khalif has been investing big money in America in preparation for enjoying a good life there, the source of his income needs to the investigated
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