Villagers living on borrowed time as land is brokered away

Locals of Saino and Ndoinet settlement scheme shows documents of parcels of land where they are forcefully being directed to leave after unknown individual claimed their ownership. The parcels of land were initially part of Mau complex requested for settlement, and in 1997. JUNE 27, 2018. [Photo: Mercy Kahenda/ Standard]

Raphael Towett keeps moving from his house at Chevuyet village to his neighbours’ for safety. He is worried that his house might be swept away by runoff water or blown away by strong winds.

His grass-thatched house is shaky, after timber that supported its mud wall were cut, leaving it unstable.

 “I am not safe. The poles that held my house have all been cut,” says Mr Towett.

Towett’s house was destroyed last week while he was at the lands offices in Nakuru County trying to find a solution to the land dispute he is faced with.

The father of six is worried that he might lose his five-acre piece of land and become a squatter.

He says he is among 2,462 families that were settled by the Government at Saino Settlement Scheme in Kuresoi North, Nakuru in 1997.

“I have not known any other home,” he says. “I was born and raised here, and later allocated this farm that I have been depending on. It is unfortunate that other people are claiming it.”

Out of court

Whereas locals decry harassment and forcible eviction, local administrators are accused of being behind the wanting situation that affects hundreds of families.

“Prior to my house being destroyed, I informed the area chief about threats I had received from someone who claims to be the owner, but nothing was done,” Towett says.

Towett is not alone. Richard Sigilet depends on well-wishers after he was evicted from his parcel of land at Chemare village in Kiptoror Location in 2012. Mr Sigilet’s house was demolished as he watched. The villain was arrested and arraigned at the Molo law courts.

Later, the two parties agreed to solve the matter out of court, but things did not turn out well for Sigilet, who was evicted from the parcel of land.

“My land was productive and I could pay school fees for my children, but now I live in poverty. I can barely afford a meal,” he says.

Michael Maisit, a 72-year-old from Ndoinet says Saino and Ndoinet settlement schemes were a part of the Mau Complex.

Mr Maisait says locals who used to reside along the Mau Forest approached the Government and requested for settlement in 1997. At least 2,462 families were settled in Saino while 835 families went to Ndoinet.

Each family was allocated a five-acre parcel of land and in 2005, the Government issued title deeds but unfortunately, those who received them were not the rightful beneficiaries.

Following the dispute, he says a caveat that has been on and off was placed, but unfortunately, the parcels of land are being occupied by outsiders who claim ownership.

“Our problems started when title deeds were being issued,” Masait says. “They were handed out to outsiders instead of those of us who had been listed as beneficiaries.”

Forcible eviction of locals by the police and local administrators in the localities has attracted the attention of the National Lands Commission (NLC).

Nakuru County NLC Coordinator Frank Kibelekenya says some administrators have been working closely with the police to evict rightful land owners. “Chiefs and their assistants are so powerful.

They harass and evict locals, and take over their land or prepare way for cartels,” says Mr Kibelekenya, who adds that at least 300 cases of evictions have been lodged in his office.

After eviction, the land is immediately occupied by individuals who claim to possess title deeds.

Forcible eviction

In a letter addressed to the Deputy County Commissioner Kuresoi South on February 7 this year, the commission stated that such cases are on the rise, and should be addressed and a solution found.

“Complaints reaching his office from the public over harassment, intimidation and forcible eviction are alarming,” reads part of the letter.

“The dispute between local administration and NLC is worrying, we shall settle the issue to enable us serve the public diligently,” says the coordinator.

Kiptoror Sub-location assistant chief Richard Towett is among local administrators who has been repeatedly accused by the locals of harassment over land.

“Those individuals are not being genuine. They migrated to the localities after they learnt that the Government was allocating land to locals within the locality,” says Mr Towett.

He says the land in question was originally part of the Mau Complex, and was gazetted by the Government as a settlement scheme in 1997, and named Saino and Ndoinet.

In 2005, he said the Government issued title deeds to all beneficiaries, apart from six people, but after realising a section of individuals were encroaching on the forest land, the Government imposed a caveat that has been on and off, before a permanent one in 2013 was effected.

“Allotment letters owned by locals were dismissed in 2005; the locals should have title deeds and not accuse people for their benefit,” he says.

Kuresoi North Sub-county Commissioner Janet Mulongo also dismisses allegations that chiefs and their assistants are forcibly evicting and harassing locals.

Ms Mulongo says her office has not received any complaints from locals. She says local administrators were directed to avoid handling land-related cases and that anyone with a land dispute is referred to the Ministry of Lands and NLC.

“Cases of land dispute in this area are rampart, and that is why we direct people to the Department of Lands,” she says.

Kuresoi OCPD Hesbon Kadenge has also absolved the police from the land scam. He however acknowledges that a section of chiefs are behind some unsolved land cases in the region.