5,000 Mau Mau families get land documents

Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi (right) and Buuri MP Mugambi Rindikiri, hands a land allotment letter to a relative of Mau Mau fighters during Mashujaa Day celebrations at Timau in Meru, on October 20, 2020. The county government in conjunction with the national government collaborated in land surveying, with 5, 000 people getting allotment letters as they wait for title deeds. [Phares Mutembei, Standard]

Five thousand families of Mau Mau freedom fighters who were settled in Buuri Sub-County have been issued with land allotment letters.

Governor Kiraitu Murungi, Land Executive Jeremiah Lenya, and Sub-county Deputy Commissioner Aisha Kiva issued the land ownership documents to the Mau Mau war veterans and descendants on Tuesday.

The National Land Commission, Ministry of Land, and Meru County’s Department of Lands collaborated in the process of identifying the families of those who fought for independence but had not been given land ownership documents.

Kiva and Lenya represented the national and county governments, respectively, in ensuring the rightful descendants of Mau Mau heroes were issued with the allotment documents.

Issuing the documents to the visibly relieved and mostly elderly beneficiaries, Kiraitu said it was a shame that many Mau Mau heroes never got the land they had selflessly fought for during the freedom struggle.

“Descendants of Mau Mau were dumped here as squatters. So we decided to make sure their needs and aspirations with regard to land ownership are met,” he told the residents during the Mashujaa Day celebrations in Timau, a venue picked as a sign of respect for the sacrifices made by the families during the war.

The governor said the sub-county commissioner would ensure unscrupulous persons do not manipulate the system to deny the families their right to land ownership.

Buuri MP Mugambi Rindikiri said they had to intervene and provide food for Musa Mwariama’s family, one of the region’s most famous freedom fighters.

“Every month we take blankets and food to them. Time has also come to rescue those who live in slums in Buuri,” Rindikiri said.

Kiraitu had on Monday announced that the administration would pay for National Hospital Insurance Fund cover for all Mau Mau veterans and people aged 70 and above.