Kenya Wildlife Service land in Naivasha grabbed

By Antony Gitonga  

NAIVASHA, KENYA: The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has raised alarm over grabbing of a parcel of land near Lake Naivasha.

KWS said the move will affect hundreds of wild animals currently living or using the land.

According to the principal KWS training institute Professor George Owiti, a section of the land that formerly belonged to KARI had been grabbed.

Owiti said that the over 100 acres were feeding grounds for giraffes, zebras, gazelles and hippos from the nearby lake.

“We are perturbed by the move to subdivide this prime land which is home to hundreds of wildlife,” said the professor.

Owiti said that they had raised the issue with their parent ministry and was hoping for quick action before development started.

According to him the owners were claiming to have bought the land from KARI yet the government organization had denied this.

“The developers claim to have all the legal documents and we want the government to fully investigate this,” he said.

Contacted on phone, Naivasha DC Mohammed Abass said that he was not aware that the land had been grabbed.

“Am not aware of any new owners as the land belongs to KARI but we shall fully investigate this issue,” he said.

This came as members of the public continued to subdivide another parcel of land near Kihoto estate belonging to the state.

The land that was once under flower farm had been illegally shared among Mau Mau war veterans before other people joined in.

According to Lakeview county representative Simon Wanyoike, the war veterans had been misadvised and conned after paying Sh10,000 to till the land.

“Some leaders of the Mau Mau leased the land to their members at a fee while knowing that the land belonged to the government,” he said.