Kenya court jails former Nairobi PC Chelogoi over Lower Kabete land fraud

Former Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Davis Nathan Chelogoi has been sentenced to prison after Milimani Chief Magistrate Dolphina Alego found him guilty of fraudulently acquiring a 7.39-hectare property in Lower Kabete, Nairobi, valued at Sh1.35 billion.

The court handed down custodial terms on six counts on Monday, 2 November 2026, ranging from one to three years, and ruled that they would run concurrently, so the longest single term he will serve is three years. Chelogoi was convicted of forgery, uttering false documents, conspiracy to defraud and forcible detainer in a case brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

According to the judgment, the documents used to support Chelogoi's title to the land were forged, including a land registrar's signature and stamp impression. The charge sheet stated that between May 2020 and June 2021 he and a co-accused conspired to defraud two businessmen, Ashok Rupshi Shah and Hitenkumar Amritlal Raja, by procuring registration of the property in his own name. His co-accused, former Assistant Deputy Director of Lands Administration Andrew Aseri Kirungu, was acquitted.

Magistrate Alego also directed the Chief Land Registrar to cancel parallel title deeds and registration details issued over the disputed property, and granted Chelogoi 14 days to appeal. In mitigation, defence lawyer Assah Kiprono said the 76-year-old had been allocated the land by the government in 1995 and was in poor health, and noted that a separate dispute over the property is pending before the Environment and Land Court.

The ruling closes a long-running ownership dispute over one of the higher-value parcels on Nairobi's western fringe, where land records have repeatedly been contested. It also reinforces earlier judicial findings that parallel titles can be cancelled at source rather than merely penalised, a point with wider implications for lenders and buyers relying on registry searches in the capital.