Waititu, MP Alice accused of building road on private land

Kiambu Governor nominee for Jubilee Ferdinand Waititu overseeing the construction of the new exit road near blue post hotel.(Photo: Kamau Maichuhie/Standard)

Jubilee Party governor nominee for Kiambu County Ferdinand Waititu and Thika MP Alice Ng’ang’a are at the centre of a storm after they allegedly invaded private land to build a road.

The two MPs could be staring at a legal battle after two men came out guns blazing claiming an exit road from Thika town at Blue Post Hotel the two MPs had on their land built, was without their consent.

Speaking to journalists during the road construction, Waititu said the move was only temporary and they had embarked on a major and comprehensive solution to curb the perennial traffic jam that has rocked the town for years.

The Kabete MP said they had nothing to fear since the place where the road was being built was a riparian reserve. “The people of Thika have suffered enough due to the now perennial traffic. For the last four and a half years, the county government has failed to fix the problem.

We will use our money to build the exit road from the town and ensure we have a permanent solution once we take over the county’s leadership,” said Waititu.

Michael Njiri Kamau and Duncan Macharia are however accusing Waititu and Ms Ng’ang’a of forcefully building the road on their land without involving them.

Mr Kamau said he was called by his workers on Tuesday to inform him that some people had come with earth-movers and were constructing what appeared to be a road.

“I asked him (Waititu) why as a leader he had led other people and started construction of the road but he told me not to worry since when he becomes governor in August he would know what to do and walked away.

The road has taken quarter an acre of my entire one and a half acre piece of land,” said Kamau.

He said efforts to employ dialogue with the two leaders in order to solve the matter were fruitless.

 “The Thika MP in particular was hostile towards me. She told me on my face that the road would be constructed whether I like it or not,” he said.

The county’s Chief Officer in the Department of Roads Lucas Wahinya disowned construction of the new road and said what had happened was an illegality and that tendering for construction of the road was in process.

He added that according to the county government, the road should not have passed there but that nothing can be done at the moment to help the complainants.

The maps

Efforts to get a comment over the matter from Ms Ng’ang’a were fruitless since she did not answer our calls or respond to our text messages.

Mr Macharia denied claims the land under which the new road was built was a riparian reserve, and that he had a title deed for his entire land that proved ownership.

“All the maps at The Survey of Kenya, those with Kenyan National Highway Authority and the county government are very clear that this is private land,” he said.

“The new road have taken half an acre of my entire road and i do not know what to do since I was actually preparing to build my home on the land,” said Macharia.

Macharia and Kamau reported the matter at the Thika Police Station, which was recorded under OB numbers 52/10/5/2017 and 53/10/5/2017.

The new road has already been named Baba Yao Mama Tena Road.