Ranching society vows to resist bid for Konza City land

Konza ranch and farming co-operative society officials at NEMA offices seeking a licence to subdivide land sometimes in the past. They have vowed to resist Government’s plan to annex part of the land. [Photo: File/Standard]

By Victor Nzuma

Machakos, Kenya: A ranch co-operative society has vowed to resist efforts by the Government to allocate its land for the development of the Konza Techno city.

Members of the Konza Ranching and Farming Co-operative Society say they will use all means at their disposal to defend their land which the Government intends to forcefully acquire for the city.

Speaking during a special general meeting held over the weekend, the 1,597 members led by their chairman David Mutangili were categorical that they are not going to let go of their 3000 acres.

The members accused the Department of Physical Planning of having approved a map indicating the repossession of the land as a buffer zone for the proposed city without their involvement.

“We have established beyond any reasonable doubt that a cartel involving some powerful politicians and influential Government officials have colluded to grab members’ land,’’ said Mr Mutangili.

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Buffer zone

Mr Mutangili said the move to annex the 3000 acres to the techno city was carried out secretly by officials of the ministry concerned without involving the society’s leadership.

He said the director of physical planning held several secret meetings with some people who are not members of the society in Machakos town where they approved certain resolutions to carve out the buffer zone.

“I severally (sic) wrote to the director requesting him to attend a series of meetings with the members at the society’s offices to discuss the matter in vain,’’ said the society’s chairman.

Instead, Mr Mutangili said, after the director ignored the calls he came up with a map indicating that the said piece of land, earlier allocated to members for commercial use, had been approved to be part of Konza city.

The members also accused the commissioner of co-operative development of attempting to replace the society’s managing committee with an interim one to assist the physical planning department acquire the land.

Total confidence

During last year’s annual general meeting, the members told the commissioner’s office to keep off the affairs of the society and opposed an attempt to install an interim committee.

In Saturday’s meeting, the members said they had total confidence in the leadership of the present management under the chairmanship Mr Mutangili.

The members appealed to both Machakos and Makueni county leaders, led by their governors, to move fast and rescue their land ‘which was being grabbed.’

They also petitioned President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and ensure their legally owned property is protected according to the Constitution.

Lion’s share

The members however, vowed not to let ‘an inch of the land’ go for any development other than their own, adding that some of them had already utilised the plots by erecting buildings.

The members likened the current trend to ‘grab’ their land to that witnessed at the adjacent Malili farm where members lost huge sums of money after an alleged cartel brokered the sale of the 5000 acres for the city and fled with the lion’s share of the money.

The members warned of bloodshed should the Government ignore their plight and proceed on with the plan to forcibly acquire their land.