Lands of Deceit: The far-reaching tentacles of land grabbers in Nakuru County
A view of Nakuru city during the day
It is emotive, sensitive and deadly. Difficult to acquire but easy to slip through one’s fingers.
The land question in Kenya is an intricate issue whose importance has played out as a uniting factor on one side and a subject of division and animosity on the other side.
As a key factor of production, owning a piece of land is considered by most Kenyans the first step towards escaping the poverty scourge. And the race to acquire one is highly spirited.
While a few have managed to generate colossal wealth from their dealings with the land, a good number have become destitute out of the same dealings.
And to those who get to experience the painful side of the land, regrets, gnashing of teeth and blood shed is what ushers their next chapter of life.
A section of Kirima on the slopes of Menengai crater in Nakuru County where an injunction has been placed to stop any activities on the land pending a court case.
Betrayal and deceit fuelled by greed in land transactions have led to bloodshed, ripping of families apart and disintegration of unity and peace among community members.
From private land to public property, neither has been safe from the crafty hands of the unscrupulous soil merchants.
And despite public outcry, not even the highest office on the land has been able to tame the debaucheries emanating from the land disputes.
Nakuru county is not safe either. As a matter of fact, it holds the lion’s share of challenges affecting land in the country.
While residents are battling with neighbours over the ownership of their land parcels, the government has on its part waged a fierce battle with suspected grabbers in a bid to recover public property.
At the household levels, disputes arise from the disagreements on the sharing of the inheritance as well as encroachment and trespass on neighbours land.
At a community level, hundreds of families are stranded with allotment letters and titles deeds placed on caveats, after their land buying companies instituted litigations that have dragged on in court for years without ending.
Some of the land buying companies and schemes which have been embroiled in unending litigations include the Nakuru workers cooperative Society which has lost 10 members during its 20 years’ court fight with a property Agent Thuo Commercial Agencies over the disputed sale of the 63 acres of land.
Members of the NDEFFO company in Bahati have been battling suspected land grabbers since 1992 with the case still pending before court.
Groups of squatters and Internally Displaced persons who were Victims of 2007/08 Post Election Violence are also fighting in court after the lands they were settled on such as Kisima, Pipeline, Kwa Muhu, and Ndonga farm were disputed.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has been actively involved in the recovery of property allegedly grabbed from the government.
According to EACC spokesperson Eric Ngumbi, property worth Sh 18 billion had been grabbed from the government.
Out of this, EACC has been able to recover property worth Sh 4.2 billion. Land property worth Sh 637 million was recovered through court litigation while property worth Sh 3.5 billion was recovered through Alternative Dispute Resolution process.
According to Mr Ngumbi the commission has filed suits in court to recover more grabbed property in Nakuru cumulatively valued at Sh 12.1 billion.
St Paul's Primary school was in a court battle over their land.
The suits seek to recover properties belonging to Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization (KALRO) (Sh 9.8 billion), Egerton University (Sh 1.6 Billion ) Agricultural Training Institute land (Sh 250 Million) and Kenya National Highways Authority (Sh100 Million)
Other lands were grabbed from public schools including Muslim Primary School, Moi Primary School as well as Naka Primary School and the Ministry of Housing land property.