Tension mounts over grazing land after ADC evicts herders

A group of herders at Mutara Ranch in Laikipia County meet to discuss an order to vacate the land by the management of the ADC ranch after signing a new lease with two individuals allegedly acting on behalf of a senior government official, on May 8, 2025. [Michael Saitoti, Standard]

Controversy is mounting at the expansive Mutara Ranch in Laikipia County following orders issued last month for herders to remove their 14,000 animals from the land.

According to a communication from the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC), a state agency that owns the property, the herders, who had leased the land, were given until May 1, 2025, to leave.