A vocal Jubilee Party Member of Parliament has hit out at the National Land Commission (NLC) after it ruled out demolishing Weston Hotel which is associated with Deputy President William Ruto.
Outgoing NLC Vice Chairperson Abigael Mbagaya acknowledged Weston sits on land that was illegally acquired but said instead of bringing it down, the DP will be forced to compensate the real owner, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
Speaking during an exclusive interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Mbagaya said valuation of the land is ongoing and noted Ruto will pay for the land as per the current market value.
"Weston Hotel must restitute. We have asked for a valuation to be carried out but we have directed that is open-market current value as at today," she said.
Mbagaya added Ruto was free to pursue the person who sold the controversial land to him in order to recover his money.
But Nyeri Town legislator Ngunjiri Wambugu has termed NLC's decision as 'unacceptable' saying it would set a bad precedent in the war against corruption.
The MP further threatened to secure the release of all people facing charges of handling stolen goods if Ruto is allowed to walk free in the Weston Hotel saga.
"This thing of NLC telling DP Ruto to pay market rate for a hotel that is on land that was stolen is unacceptable," he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
"If we do that then I will have to insist that we also throw out all those cases the State is prosecuting against (primarily) young men and women who are facing charges of handling stolen property some simply because they innocently bought a cellphone that had been stolen by someone else, and ask them to just pay for what they were caught with that was stolen," Wambugu added.
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