MPs summon Taita farm officials over boundary row

By Renson Mnyamwezi

Taita-Taveta, Kenya: The Parliamentary Committee on Lands has summoned the management of the giant Teita Sisal Estate in Mwatate district, Taita-Taveta County over a boundary dispute. The management is supposed to shed light on the controversy over the farm’s boundary with residents of Singila and Majengo villages.

The committee chairman Alex Mwiru asked the farm managers to appear before the committee this week with relevant supporting documents to discuss the long-standing boundary dispute.

Squatters harassed

“We want them to explain to us why the farm mangers and police have been harassing innocent squatters yet the boundary between the two parties has not been determined,” said the Tharaka MP.

Speaking in Mwatate town during a public forum at the weekend, Mr Mwiru called for a new-survey of the disputed boundary which has been the epicenter of conflicts for years.  “Residents cannot build houses and access water from the community dam situated at the farm and we will not allow this to continue happening,” he warned.

Led by a land lobby group Mwasima Mbuwa Welfare Association, the residents complained that ferocious snakes like spitting cobras and pythons from the farm had persistently been invading their homesteads. “The sisal farm is not a National Park and sisal plants within human settlements should immediately be removed to protect lives and property,” Mwiru warned.

The Farm’s Managing Director Phillip Kyriaz said they were ready to meet the parliamentary committee to discuss the contentious matter.

“We will appear before the parliamentary committee as ordered. Much has been said about us and we must meet them to clear the air,” he said.