Kipsigis community demands return of land leased to tea companies

Members of the Kipsigis community have renewed calls for the return of vast tracts of land currently under long-term lease to multinational tea companies, saying the land rightfully belongs to local residents in Kericho and Bomet counties.

Speaking in Kericho town, Kipsigis Community Lands Organization Secretary General Joel Kimetto said land held under 99-year leasehold arrangements should be reverted to the community. He argued that the parcels in question were historically community-owned and not public land.

“We don’t want the parcel of land to revert back as public land. Public participation should actually be conducted on how the land should be used,” he said.

 Kimetto added that about 200 Kipsigis clans that were forcefully evicted  from their ancestral land to pave way for multinational tea firms have agreed that the land should revert to community ownership. Kimetto noted that the community has already developed a framework on how the land and tea plantations will be managed.

“We have already drawn plans on how the land and the tea plantations should be managed. The land will not be divided but run as a Kipsigis Group of Tea Estates. It will be managed that way for the current and future generations,” he said.

Kimetto spoke as Kericho Governor  Erick Mutai called on the Ministry of Lands to release title deeds for the contested land to the county governments of Kericho, Bomet and Nandi. The governor said counties should be recognized as custodians of the land.

“The counties are the custodians of the land and should be the ones to determine who leases the land, the number of people to be employed and the level of corporate social responsibility projects undertaken,” said Mutai.

He further pointed out that county governments are currently unaware of the whereabouts of title deeds held by multinational tea firms and the identities of the lessors, raising concerns over transparency and accountability in the management of the expansive tea estates.