Leadership wars erupt over disputed Njoro land

Livestock grazing at the contested 2,800-acre land in Ngongongeri, Njoro Sub County, Nakuru County on August 4, 2025. The land has been a subject of ownership dispute between a 500-member community and Egerton University.[Daniel Chege, Standard]

Residents of Tulwobmoi, located in Rongai, Nakuru County, forcibly reclaimed 16 acres of public land that had reportedly been unlawfully seized.

Carrying slashers, machetes, hoes and a power saw, they took down a Kei-apple fence and ploughed the land in an attempt to reclaim it from two alleged grabbers.

After ploughing and taking down the fence, they staged a peaceful protest, demanding justice and urging the government to step in and ensure the public land is returned to the community.

Police intervened later to understand, having been informed by one of the alleged grabbers that his land was being ploughed.

However, after discussions with the community, the police said they would advise the developers to take legal action.

“For now, just maintain peace as those claiming ownership of the land take the next step,” said one of the officers as he left the property under community care.

The land hosts AIC Tulwobmoi Church, AIC Tulwobmoi Primary School and AIC Tulwobmoi Secondary School. Cornelius Kemboi, former chair of the primary school board, said that the land was allocated to them by the late President Daniel Moi in early 2000.

“The president instructed us to construct an AIC church and primary school on the land after donating it to the community,” said Kemboi.

Kemboi said that the plots allocated were three, but due to the kei-apple fence, they concentrated on one part of the land and ignored the other, which was almost half.

However, owing to a recent dispute, the community did due diligence and discovered that the land extended a section they had ignored.

He added that they discovered that the two individuals, Vincent Cheruiyot and John Tissia, had allegedly used the land as security to obtain a loan of Sh10 million and Sh7 million, respectively.

“We do not know how they got the title deed to own the public land sometime in 2014. We are protesting as parents that we may lose the church and school, and our children would suffer,” said Kemboi.

According to Kemboi, the primary school hosts more than 600 pupils, the secondary school hosts over 300 students, and the church has over 250 faithful.

He called on the two to surrender the land, insisting that the community was well versed in the ownership details and had an allotment letter.

“We will fight for the public land until the end, even if it means that we proceed to court,” he stressed.

Luka Tuikong said that they had approached President Moi in a bid to buy the land, but he decided to allocate it to the community.

He said that the president had opened the church when he retired in 2015, which was after the two had taken possession of part of the land.

He said that they did not follow up on the documentation of the land since they assumed it was safe, being public land, but grabbers took advantage.