Tale of volatile land issue in Nakuru region

By KARANJA NJOROGE

The sensitive land issue has for years been at the center of protracted and violent disputes in Nakuru County.

Disputes range from indigenous communities like the Maasai and Ogiek laying claim to huge ancestral chunks of land to individual ownership rows. But a series of transfers involving senior government officials and security officers over land controversies has generated fear among local administrators.

 Security officers seeking to maintain order have been on receiving end through transfers believed to be instigated by influential personalities.

Former Police Spokesman Charles Owino’s six-month stint as the Njoro OCPD came to an abrupt end early this month after he was involved in a row over the management of the controversial 834-acre Gachembe Farm.

Owino was transferred to Ndhiwa in the same capacity; days after  he was  accused of meddling in land matters. He had clashed with Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri, who accused him of illegally interfering with land issues. “Owino has taken it upon himself to deal with historically explosive land issues and we are asking him to keep off,” Ngunjiri said.

 He accused Owino of ignoring a letter from the National Land Commission directing him to keep off the land matter and allow relevant agencies to arbitrate and resolve the matter. Owino had, however, insisted that he was only maintaining law and order as directed by the court. His transfer came barely two months after Officer Commanding Mau Narok Police Station Richard Siele was transferred over his alleged role in the controversy-ridden Muthera Farm  was transferred to Mandera County in January.

Complaint letter

The 4,296-acre farm owned by the family of the late former Cabinet Minister Mbiyu Koinange has been embroiled in a protracted ownership row.

Siele’s transfer came in the wake of a complaint letter addressed to the Internal Security Ministry by a party to the conflict. The OCS in November last year arrested more than 32 youth after they allegedly invaded the farm and sent away workers.

In August last year, Nakuru County Commissioner, Amos Gathecha and some senior Administration Police officers were transferred following a violent eviction at Narasha, Naivasha.  Youths had descended on the village and torched houses to force families out of the land. Gathecha was re-deployed to Embu after President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto toured the area and condemned the eviction.

The Narasha land row that pits the Kikuyu and Maasai communities against one another has festered for more than 30 years and claimed more than 100 lives.  At the center of the current dispute is a piece of land, which was part of 16,000 acres belonging to Ng’ati Farmers Co-operative Society.

Another long running land row is at Chepakundi Settlement Scheme in Kuresoi, which has sucked in Nakuru Deputy Governor Joseph Ruto. 

The Deputy Governor has been warding off allegations that he incited squatters at the controversial land. Some squatters have filed a petition at the High Court against him over the alleged incitement.

The land row issues have seen two chiefs implicated in the allocations summoned to appear before Nakuru County Assembly Justice and Legal Committee to shed light on the issue. In areas of Mau Narok, the Maasai want all the leases on land considered to belong to them revised accusing the Government of extending the leases, which were expiring in 2004 from 99 to 999 years.

The Ndung’u Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Irregular Allocation of Public land revealed that scores of politically connected people had been unlawfully allocated land in Nakuru County.