After 50 years of bloodshed, 6,500-acre Angata Barikkoi land survey completed

The tense meeting at Angata Barikoi primary school in Trasmara south going on. Top police security officers led by IG Douglas Kanja and Director of DCI Mohammed Amin in attendance alongside a section of Rift valley politicians.[George Sayagie,Standard]

The survey of the 6,500 acres of Angata Barikkoi/Moyoi (Kailolong) land, which has been at the centre of a bloody dispute lasting five decades, came to an end on Wednesday.

The two-week exercise was led by Director of Survey Kenya Weldon Maritim and a team of 36 government surveyors.

Maritim said the survey would resolve the protracted land dispute, which has resulted in loss of lives and destruction of property for more than five decades.

The conflict between the Moyoi/2 Adjudication Section and the Angata Barrikoi Registration Section had fuelled court battles and inter-communal skirmishes.

Maritime said the conflict had also sown mistrust among the neighbours and denied families the security to develop their land.

He said the survey has delivered clear boundaries, improved security of tenure, permanent conflict resolution, restored peace and cohesion, and strengthened land governance.

“For over fifty years, this land has been a source of tension. By completing the survey and setting clear boundaries, we have given certainty and dignity back to the people,” he said.

Maritime said the next phase will be processing and issuance of title deeds to eligible landowners to provide residents with legally recognised ownership documents.

"This will strengthen tenure security and unlocking economic opportunities for development in Trans Mara," he said.

The land was claimed by over 400 families who have been farming there for decades, holding genuine title deeds issued under former President Daniel Arap Moi in 2002.

In April panic spread among families when surveyors from the Ministry of Lands, land adjudication officers, and the Land Registrar from Kilgoris arrived in the area and erected beacons, despite an existing court order issued by Judge Cyprian Waswa of the Kilgoris Environment and Land Court.

This led to the loss of six lives and numerous injuries after security officers clashed with the protesting residents.

The Angata Barikkoi/Moyoi 2 adjudication section had become a thorny issue among the communities living there and had led to loss of lives and property.

The land in question in the Angata Barikkoi/Moyoi 2 adjudication sections was declared in 1975, and subdivision and recording were undertaken, and the final adjudication register was published for inspection in 1977; this is according to government records.

In 1976, the Ministry of Lands proceeded to state that the Moyoi adjudication section was declared an adjudication section and the adjudication register was made available for inspection at the office of the Lolgorian chief.

In 1996 the adjudication register was issued with a certificate of finality by the Ministry of Lands, and the chief land registrar proceeded to issue the relevant title deeds to the lawful beneficiaries.

In 1996 the Angata Barikkoi adjudication section was declared an adjudication section with the description of its boundaries included in the gazette notice, and the ownership rights of the occupants were duly recorded, and the adjudication register was completed and published for inspection in September.