Protesters ask Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene in land row

 

Transport on the Embu–Nairobi highway was interrupted Thursday after residents of Mwea settlement scheme held a demonstration. 

The residents were protesting after missing out on land titles, saying they were overlooked in the subdivision of the land.

Motorists using the road were forced to wait as protesters blocked the road before marching for about two kilometres from VI market towards Makutano carrying placards and chanting anti-Jubilee slogans.

They accused the Government of driving the issuance of the Mwea land titles process despite 'knowing' it will render them landless.

The residents have asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to visit the area so that they can explain their plight, saying only he can address their concerns.

They said nothing much had come out of their complaints to area leaders over possible eviction from land they have lived in for years.

"No single State agency wants to help us despite our complaints that we are about to lose our land to outsiders. We ask the President to visit us and address our plight," said Job Itumo, a resident.

Share land

Mr Itumo called on the President to halt the issuance of titles for the 17,000-hectare land and start an all-inclusive process where each of the 12,000 residents in the scheme will receive a share of the land.

Mwethya Kisisyo, another resident, called on relevant State agencies and leaders including the Senate to visit the area and take views and complaints of residents so that they can be addressed.

He asked the Government to not take their grievances lightly, saying evictions will be met with resistance and disrupt peace.

"We do not know why our grievances are being ignored. We wonder why the country is silent as we undergo these tribulations. This is the time to act before evictions and resistance begin," said Mwethya.

About 441 out of the over 12,000 residents of the Mwea settlement scheme land were considered in subdivision and allocation of parcels on over 52,000 acres of land, with the rest missing out.