Locals vow to stay put as row with county over disputed land rages

Samuel Maina, a member of Gatundu/Gatuanyage Dairy Farmers Company shows his title deed, proof of ownership to his quarter acre piece of land.The members of the company are at odds with the county government, which said the land is a public utility. [PHOTO: KAMAU MAICHUHIE/STANDARD]

A row over the ownership of a six-acre piece of land has turned residents against the county government.

More than 30 members of Gatundu/Gatuanyaga Dairy Farmers Company have said the land at the centre of a dispute belongs to them but the county  maintains the land is a public utility.

Led by Samuel Maina and David Muiruri, the members said they have all the requisite ownership documents including title deeds and wondered why the county was laying claim to the land.

“We all have the title deeds, which are a clear testament the land belongs to us. We have also been paying land rates to the same county. If the land was a public utility, they would have told us so whenever we went to pay for our land rates,” said Mr Maina.

Mr Muiruri said they were shocked last week to see senior county government officials from the Physical Planning Department accompanied by county askaris and hired goons making their way onto the disputed land, where they started demolishing structures.

“The gang, which was carrying all manner of crude weapons among them machetes and pangas pulled down the structures we had started to build. They told us they had been sent by their bosses to do the job and warned us to stop any further construction since the land was public,” he said.

Plan Approved

He claimed the county askaris arrested and assaulted him, before robbing him of Sh64,000, which was money meant to pay his workers at the construction site.

Francis Murigi, another resident, wondered why the same county government approved his building plan in November 2013 if the land was indeed a public utility.

In a letter seen by The Standard and signed by the then Thika Planner SK Makali, the county gave Muiruri the go ahead to build a bungalow on Block 21/2051 situated in Gatundu/Gatuanyaga.

“We are demanding answers. It is the same county that approved my building plan and those of many others. We will not allow them to take what is rightfully ours,” he said.

Company Chairman Livingstone Mbugua maintained the land belonged to the members, adding they had all the requisite ownership documents to prove it.

 He said they would be raising the matter with the relevant authorities to sort out the issue once and for all before it got out of hand.

 The members claimed they were privy to information that a group of senior county officials were salivating for the land due to its high value. A quarter of an acre in the area is currently going for Sh3 million.

 However, in a swift rejoinder, the County Director of Physical Planning, John Mbao, maintained the land belonged to the county government.

 He challenged the residents to prove how they acquired the land, adding they may have been duped by land brokers.

 “What we are dealing with is public land in private hands. They will have to clearly show how they acquired the public land. It is our land and we will repossess it,” said Mr Mbao.