Squatters to get back their 930 hectares of land from the family of a late minister

Jackson Harvester Angaine. [Photo, File]

The National Land Commission has recommended that 930 hectares of land occupied by a late powerful minister’s family in Mt Kenya be reverted to squatters.

The piece of land excised from Mt Kenya following the late President Jomo Kenyatta’s directive issued in September 1970, is to now be owned by Ontulili Forest squatters who claim to have been shortchanged in the deal by the late Lands minister Jackson Harvester Angaine (pictured).

NLC Vice Chairperson Abigael Mbagaya said the property in question should revert to the squatters because it was excised purposely for them.

The commission recommended that the Chief Land Registrar gives it back to the squatters and in the alternative, Angaine’s family provides them with a piece of land of equal size and value.

“The Chief Land Registrar registers the land in the name of the squatters and they should be settled with the assistance of the Director of Land Adjudication and Director of Surveys,” she said in a gazette notice dated February 18 and published on March 1.

In the notice, Ms Mbagaya said the recommendation was made after hearing all parties in a historical injustice claim made to the commission.

“The commission invited all the complainants, respondents and the interested parties to appear before it to inspect documents and make written representations and submissions after which the commission undertook further investigations,” she said.

Six forest officers

The recommendations were made five years after Court of Appeal dismissed three cases that sought an order compelling the government, family and Home Grown Kenya Limited to settle more than 500 squatters on the piece of land or give them an alternative land.

The land issue dates back to 1970 when six forest officers at Ontulili within Mt Kenya Forest in Meru County visited Kenyatta at his Gatundu home in Kiambu County.

They petitioned the President saying they were landless public servants who were about to retire. They are said to have requested him to excise part of the Ontulili Forest and allot them for settlement. The President directed then Minister for Natural Resources, the late Odongo Omamo to liaise with Angaine with a view of identifying and marking a suitable part of the forest for excision.

The two ministers visited the area in September 1970 and were later on instructed by Angaine to cut the trees in the marked area to pave way for demarcation and subdivision. More than 500 squatters told the court they were shocked when Angaine started cultivating the piece of land for his personal use and a title deed issued in the name of a company by the late minister - J.H. Angaine & Sons.

They moved to court in 2003 and another application filed in 2004, matters that were consolidated and later on dismissed by High Court Judge Mary Kasango on June 30, 2011. In her judgment, the judge observed that only six people visited Kenyatta and wondered whether they were the 550 persons before the court, adding that there was no document to prove the squatters were entitled to the land excised out of the forest in Mt Kenya.

The judge also said the order sought by the squatters under the Judicial Review application could only apply to a public institution and not private. Aggrieved, the squatters moved to Court of Appeal on grounds that the judge failed to appreciate the previous proceedings and historical background of the matter in holding that there was a 50-years delay.

The lawyer representing Angaine’s company and that of Home Grown said the company belonging to the family was not party to the two cases before the High Court and no order could be enforced against it. In their January 22, 2014 judgment, Court of Appeal judges Martha Koome, Philomena Mwilu who is now the Deputy Chief Justice and Justice Otieno Odek said the court cannot issue an order to enforce a promise.

They also dismissed the appeal, saying the judge did not err in refusing to grant the squatters orders sought.