Museums reclaim 60 acres grabbed in Kitale

Director of National Museum of Kenya Mzalendo Kibunja during a briefing on bats at Uhuru Garden in Mombasa County. Bats have increased over the years in Mombasa. (Kelvin Karani, Standard)

The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) has repossessed 60 acres of land grabbed at its Kitale facility.

Chief Executive Officer Mzalendo Kibunja (pictured) said the land had been fenced off and tight security deployed after a private developer burned the previous fence.

The area, which served as an indigenous forest, was cleared by land grabbers who displaced wild animals and birds with wanton abandon.

Kitale NMK had been left with only 22 acres after the encroachment.

The forest was initially a source of herbal medicine before it was destroyed by private developers. The NMK in collaboration with National Land Commission recovered the land later last year.

On Monday, Kibunja led university students and environmental groups to plant indigenous trees on the reclaimed land.

Kibunja said they target to plant more than 20,000 seedlings on the land in a bid to restore the biodiversity.

Dr Njogu Barua, the research committee chair at NMK, said plans are at an advanced stage to recover all grabbed land in 150 facilities across the country.