Former Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Davis Nathan Chelogoi has been sentenced to three years in prison over a fraudulent land acquisition scheme involving a 7.39-hectare property in Lower Kabete, Nairobi, valued at Ksh1.35 billion.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) announced on Monday, November 2, that Milimani Chief Magistrate Dolphina Alego had sentenced Chelogoi after finding him guilty of offences arising from attempts to acquire land belonging to businessmen Ashok Rupshi Shah and Hitenkumar Amritlal Raja.
The disputed property, registered as Nairobi/Block/80/44, became the subject of a criminal case after Chelogoi allegedly presented forged documents to support his claim of ownership.
According to the DPP, the former administrator received separate prison terms for six offences.
He was sentenced to two years for conspiracy to defraud, two years for forcible detainer, three years for each of the two forgery counts, three years for uttering a forged document and one year for procuring registration of land by false pretences.
However, the court directed that all the sentences run concurrently, meaning Chelogoi will serve an effective prison term of three years.
In its judgment, the court established that Chelogoi forged a letter of allotment dated January 31, 1995, which purported to have been issued by the Commissioner of Lands.
The document was allegedly used to support his claim that the government had allocated the property to him.
The court further established that on October 11, 2023, Chelogoi presented forged documents at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road.
The documents included the purported letter of allotment and a certificate bearing a forged signature and stamp impression attributed to land registrar Paul Achieng Pesa.
The documents were presented as genuine records to support his ownership claim and dealings in the property.
In a further order, Magistrate Alego directed the Land Registrar to cancel any parallel title or registration issued in respect of the property, affirming that it belongs to Shah and Raja.
The prosecution, led by Sonia Njoki, Hillary Isiaho and James Murage, called 19 witnesses and presented documentary and expert evidence to prove its case.
The dispute over the Lower Kabete property has been the subject of several court battles spanning more than a decade.
According to court proceedings, Shah and Raja purchased the property from Lima Company Limited in January 2007 for approximately Ksh33 million.
Their ownership was subsequently upheld by the Environment and Land Court in a judgment delivered on July 28, 2022, which declared them the legal owners of the property.
Chelogoi, however, maintained that he had been allocated the land in January 1995 by former President Daniel arap Moi and had paid a premium of Ksh2.48 million.
He argued that delays in regularising the ownership documents were caused by his public service assignments and financial limitations.
The dispute escalated after a competing title was registered in Chelogoi’s name, prompting further legal proceedings and investigations into the authenticity of the documents used.
In October 2024, the Court of Appeal restrained Chelogoi from interfering with the Lands Office records relating to Shah and Raja’s ownership of the property.
The criminal case later proceeded against Chelogoi and former Assistant Deputy Director of Lands Administration Andrew Aseri Kirungu.
However, Magistrate Alego acquitted Kirungu after finding that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence to establish his criminal culpability.
During the October 16, 2026 judgment, the magistrate questioned the authenticity of documents used to support Chelogoi’s ownership claim. “The signature and stamp impressions were outright forgery,” Alego said, according to The Standard.
The court subsequently found Chelogoi guilty, with the sentencing proceedings taking place on November 2.
