Ngilu says bad titles going back to 1963 will be revoked, Orengo blames Ruto for Lamu land mess

Former Lands Minister James Orengo (middle) Kakamega senator Bonny Khalwale (left) and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed address the press where they produced a list of alleged land grabbers. [PHOTO MOSES OMUSULA]

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) now claims land cartels regrouped to fight back Siaya Senator James Orengo for having revoked their titles during his tenure as Lands minister for which Jubilee leaders are accusing him of signing away public parcels particularly in Lamu County.

The Opposition has warned Jubilee leaders not to throw stones when they themselves live in glass houses and claimed that the former minister was a scapegoat being used to justify new land grabbing schemes.

The legislators Monday released what they called their first batch of a dossier to implicate top Jubilee leaders in land grabbing, saying more damning documentary disclosures were on the way.

In particular, they have picked on Deputy President William Ruto, whom they described as the leader of “Kanu land cartels” who were driven out of town by the National Rainbow Coalition regime in 2002 but are now staging a comeback.

Orengo on Monday declared that land ownership in Lamu was in the hands of a few rich and well-connected families and cited that of first President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

“Some of those who won land in the area include former PCs (Isaiah) Mathenge, (Eliud) Mahiu and the President’s family. If we are repossessing land, this is the land we must begin with.”

He then asked: “You need to ask yourself, how did someone who did not have land wake up in 1963 and acquire 80 per cent of Taita Taita County. How did three families own over 70 per cent of Kwale?” he quipped.

Orengo who is under pressure over the revocation of titles for 500,000 acres issued hurriedly in Lamu during his tenure as Lands minister came out fighting on a day his predecessor at Ardhi House, Mrs Charity Ngilu, declared that titles for irregularly given out since 1963 would be revoked.

However, a statement issued by Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU) charged Orengo’s statement had confirmed his role in the Lamu land grab saga, adding “the Siaya Senator should prepare to write a statement on what he knows not just about the Lamu land grab, but everything else.”

“That is why he has not addressed the theft of land that he presided over at the Lands ministry. He has resorted to dropping names of the President and the Deputy President without giving an iota of proof,” said the statement issued eight PSCU Senior Directors.

“He keeps trumpeting the Ndung’u report which he didn’t even talk about during his five-year tenure at the Lands docket. We remind Orengo of his parliamentary answer on Thursday December 8, 2011 in response to Dr Boni khwalale when he said: ‘The Ndung’u report is a just a small component of how to deal with the land sector.”

“Finally, Orengo has proven that he is a bogus reformer, fake liberator and counterfeit leader willing to “hold and protect a list of 1,000 alleged land grabbers” in an effort to blackmail the Government,” the PSCU statement went on.

Two CORD legislators joined Orengo in pushing this fightback argument with CORD claiming that several pieces of land belonging to Ruto in Nairobi and Eldoret, which were irregularly acquired, were repossessed by the Government.

“The cartels in the land sector are so organised, powerful and are now regrouping to sue some people who you are now hearing talked about.”

Most of the plots that Orengo revoked were allocated to Somog Ltd associated with the DP while others bear his names, they claimed. Apart from the DP, the Opposition MPs have mentioned Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi as among the beneficiaries whose title deeds were revoked.

The leaders further claimed that retired President Kibaki was protecting land cartels, citing a speech by the third President on Madaraka Day 2008 when he told those who had title deeds and leases not to panic after Orengo announced plans to repossess their parcels.

Notably, the Siaya senator identified land belonging to the Ministry of Immigration situated next to the National Social Security Fund and Prisons Headquarters in Nairobi’s community area that a company associated with Ruto and former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo charged at Trust bank for Sh600 million.

Kakamega Senator Bonny Khalwale and Suna East MP Junet Mohamed attended Orengo’s news conference where they claimed that the controversial land allocations were just a smokescreen whose aim is to dish the same plot to land cartels.

“The cartels led by William Ruto have now regrouped and are fighting back but we are telling them that when you live in a glass house, you don’t throw stones,” Khalwale said.

Junet said while waving a list of names of 850 individuals whose land Orengo revoked; “Ruto because your name is here and the President because of the history of land in Kenya, we cannot trust Uhuru and Ruto to implement land reforms. What we are seeing is politically-compliant Ngilu land reforms.”

However, CS Kambi reacted angrily to accusations and told Orengo to carry his own cross and stop blackmailing others. “He should be held accountable for abusing his office when he served as minister and stop blackmail. My land that he purported to repossess was returned to me by the courts which found that he had no power to cancel my title.”

The CORD leaders sensationally claimed that Uhuru’s order to the National Land Commission to repossess titles was meant to have the land reverted to Government so that it could be allocated to politically-correct individuals.

Orengo who was mentioned adversely by Ngilu last week denied any wrong doing in the Lamu transactions and further denied owning any land in Lamu.

“I want to say here without fear of contradiction that I James Orengo, Senator of Siaya, with a record for struggle, will be the last person to do those things they are saying. I do not own a piece of land by proxy or directly in any part of the country other than the one in Ugenya.”

The senator challenged the State to publish all names of persons who own land parcels over 200 acres in Lamu and other Coast regions, claiming that the President’s family was among the largest land owners in that region.

Khalwale accused Attorney General Githu Muigai of failure to advise the President that he could not direct NLC.