Parents of Nyali School situated along the Links road in the county of Mombasa have now moved to the National Land Commission to rescue its school land from the hands of powerful Mombasa business Tycoons who in conjunction with some board members and the head teacher have seen a section of the school land grabbed. The land Reference No. MN/1/21863, 21864-218887 – (Originally LR No. MN/1/6542) believed to be more than 10 acres situated just beside the primary School in the prime Area of Nyali has been over many years in ownership contention. The land was part of the land allocated for the school in the early 80’s by then late President Moi to the Mombasa Parents Club following their successful application to move and expand its school from Kizingo Area of Mombasa to Nyali Area. The land in dispute was earmarked for the expansion of the school to Secondary level. However, due to financial constraints, the expansion has not been implemented for long time.
Issues on the land started to erupt in 2014-2015 when the school decided to build a secondary school for its school. But by then, the board realized that already some powerful business tycoons in Mombasa have grabbed and developed a big section of its school land without their knowledge. It is believed the head teacher Mr. John Kombo was aware that the land had been invaded and grabbed but was kept quiet by these powerful business tycoons. Mr. Kombo was even used to be a middle person between the land grabbers and the then board of Nyali School in an effort to keep the board quite.
The land grabbers who had already developed part the land and built some apartments promised to reward the board and Mr. Kombo if they manage to also keep the parents unaware of the land grabbing. Mr. Kombo and some of his close allies were then rewarded by being allocated pieces of the grabbed land for their development while some board members were allocated the already built apartments. Mr. Kombo quickly built a house and even hosted a Water Purifying plant that taps its Electric power illegally from the school. The purified Water “Marina” is bottled and even supplied to Nyali school.
When the issue of secondary school gained momentum in 2016, Parents of Nyali School demanded to have the secondary school built just nearby its plot. It was then that parents realized that already a big section of the land had already been grabbed by powerful persons and that the remaining land was not enough to construct a secondary school. This information brought a lot tension and the land grabbers had to move quickly to defuse the tension.
Mr. Kombo quickly brought on board a land broker Mr. John Mwangi and promised parents that Mr. Mwangi will follow up the matter to its positive conclusion. Mr. Mwangi was however to be a money minting source for Mr. Kombo as he was immediately cashed 600K through the then and current Secretary of the board (a known lawyer) to spearhead the conclusion of the land issue. Since 2016, through Mr. Mwangi, the school has spent over 5 Million with each day parents being promised that the land had been already secured and returned to Nyali School but nothing has come over as proof. The money given to Mr. Mwangi was said to be bribe for persons in the land Commission so as to have the school land returned back to school. To the shock of all Nyali Parents, Mr. Mwangi even appeared in the latest financial Audit report by the Auditor as a member of the Board committee. Mr. Mwangi is however, neither a parent at the school nor a member of the Mombasa Parents Club (Club that owns the school). The Auditor’s report exposed so much financial rot in the school among them loss of 11 Million in FY 2020 and the presence of Ghost Workers. The Auditor even concluded that the Club may cease to be a going concern in near future if all current factors remain constant. To date, the board has refused to endorse the report.
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To avoid parents to constantly enquire on the issue of the land, Mr. Kombo and the then school board immediately proposed to buy and build the secondary school in Mavueni, Kilifi County. This was quickly implemented and construction started at Mavueni. However, the project would not see the day light after massive corruption among the board and Mr. Kombo that saw the project turning into a white elephant. The Mavueni project is said to have even enabled Mr. Kombo to suck a lot of resources from it and even build his mansionette in Shanzu.
The Nyali Member of Parliament Hon. Mohamed Ali (Jicho Pevu) is also aware of the land matter as he was once followed by parents who were seeking his intervention. Moha Jicho Pevu promised to undertake his own investigation on the matter and come back to parents. Many parents believe that this latest move may have been spearheaded by his efforts to have the Land Commission return the land back to the school.
In a letter written to the board by Mr. Brian Ikol (For Secretary/ CEO of NLC), the school board has now been summoned by the Land commission to appear before the land Commissioner with all documentations related to the land in dispute. Other interested parties have also been invited to come before the Commission and present their land documents. The summon is scheduled for Tuesday 9th November 2021 at KSG Mombasa Campus at 10am. The parents of Nyali School have are also interested on the proceedings and have already contacted Hon. Mohamed Ali to sponsor a lawyer to watch brief the proceedings on their behalf.
This land matter is said to have really stressed Mr. Kombo whose whereabouts have been unknown since the beginning of the week. The last time seen in School was on Wednesday 20th October 2021 when he was seen removing several of his stuff from his office and even uprooting some plantations that had been planted by students under the CBC program. It is still unknown why Mr. Kombo was removing his stuff and uprooting the plantations and where he was taking them. Adding to his stress is the issue of his contract which comes to an end towards end of November, 2021 and which the board has categorically refused to renew but referred him to parents or the Trustees of the school for consideration. It seems no one is ready to renew his contract as both the board and trustees want the matter to be decided by parents in an AGM that himself Mr. Kombo is blocking using COVID-19 excuses.
As things stand, parents are eagerly waiting to know the outcome of the Land Commission Summon. Many parents are praying for the land to be returned back to the school with a section of them already suggesting for the parents and the children to demonstrate peacefully to have the land returned back to school. They are even urging the President to intervene and help them secure their land and all the people involved in grabbing and their helpers be arrested. Parents of Nyali are also requesting for DCI to intervene and unearth this racket. Parents will be watching keenly the proceedings of the Land Commission summon before deciding on the next course of action. However, No inch less-No inch more shall be accepted by the parents.
Signed
Nyali Parents
