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Ruto: Yes, Weston sits on illegally acquired land, but…


Deputy President William Ruto has admitted that the land on which the Weston Hotel is built was illegally grabbed from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).

He admitted this when he appeared on BBC’s HARDtalk, a current affairs interview program on BBC news hosted by Stephen Sackur.

He however maintained that he was an innocent purchaser.

“Tell me about the Weston Hotel, which you own, which is worth an awful amount of money, and which is sitting on illegally acquired land,” inquired Stephen.

REPARATIONS

“For the record, the National Land Commission has made a finding that Weston Hotel was an innocent purchaser for value from somebody who got it illegally and reparations have been made constitutionally to restore the land to KCAA, by requiring those who sold the land to us to pay the civil aviation authority,” responded Ruto.

Last month, the land commission ruled that while the land had been grabbed, the owners of Weston hotel bought it innocently and therefore would be required to pay an amount to the KCAA as reparation.

The whole conversation came about when the veteran journalist inquired about the state of corruption in Kenya and why the DP was ranked as the most corrupt person, according to a report by Ipsos Kenya.

But the DP said it was all political.

“If you look at that list, you got William Ruto, a former president (Daniel Moi), the current president Uhuru Kenyatta, the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Largely, all the political leaders that exist today in Kenya were on that list. That tells you that the whole corruption narrative has been politicized,” said Mr Ruto.