Kihiu Mwiri members to get title deeds, says Matiang’i

A section of shareholders of the troubled Kihiu Mwiri land buying company who protested as the acting lands cabinet secretary Fred Matiang'i held a closed door meeting with leaders from both factions seeking solution to leadership wrangles facing the company. [PHOTO: BONIFACE GIKANDI]

Members of the troubled Kihiu Mwiri Land Buying Company will get their title deeds in three months, acting Lands Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has assured them.

Mr Matiang’i, while on a visit to the controversial land, formed a five-man team that is to probe the firm and finalise on issuance of the ownership documents.

“The team will start its work next week and will have finished it in three months. The title deeds will then be issued to shareholders on September 4,” he said.

Led by Director of Survey Cesare Mbaria and Lands Secretary Sarah Masaki, the chosen team was given authority to regularise sub-divisions done within the 1,085 acres of land.

Matiang’i said his ministry will monitor the team’s progress to ensure they are done within the set timeline.

The CS also said the National Land Commission will be involved in finding a solution for this issue that has seen the company steeped in controversy for nearly two decades.

Special project

He also said investigations are ongoing to determine those behind killings of five of the firm’s directors and others who have disappeared mysteriously.

“My ministry will handle the Kihiu Mwiri case as a special project because we want to end the bloodshed and restore peace among members,” he said.

Matiang’i said this following a daylong meeting with the firm’s warring officials and Governor Mwangi wa Iria.

And while the CS chaired the meeting, scores of shareholders camped at the entrance of the venue with placards demanding issuance of the title deeds, which they said is the only lasting solution.

The meeting follows Deputy President William Ruto’s directive three weeks ago requiring the CS to meet with the two rival groups, locked in leadership wrangles, to map out a way of resolving the crisis.

Matiang’i ordered the warring factions to cease their conflict and wait for the team to conduct its survey and conclude the case.

“The Government will not tolerate criminal elements in the company who decide to end the lives of those with a different opinion,” Matiang’i said.

The feuding has been brought on because one faction wants the land subdivided into 50 by 100 blocks while the other wants it split into 100 by 100 blocks.

This stalemate has also resulted in delay of title deeds issuance.

Governor Wa Iria on his part asked the Government to form a commission of inquiry that will look into deaths of company members saying this is the best way to, conclusively, put an end to the wrangling.

The governor said his administration will not allow lives to be sacrificed for the selfish gain of a select few.

“We cannot allow the lives of 6,000 members to be put at stake because their leaders do not agree on how to run the company,” Wa Iria added.

No progress

Kihiu Mwiri Land Buying Company was established in the 1970s after members took a loan from the Agricultural Finance Corporation to top up their contributions and buy the land from a white settler.

What should have been an arrangement that is beneficial to members has, over the years, turned out to be a source of grief due to constant wrangling and now the recent spate of ‘suspicious’ deaths and disappearance of some.

Last month, Kimani Kuria a faction leader was shot dead in mysterious circumstances. Other directors who have been killed in cold blood are Wilfred Gichana, Newton Chege Muhoro, Ngugi Kamau, and Benson Ngumi. Three others, Henry Ngugi, Job Mwangi and James Kimaru, have disappeared without a trace.