Land grabbing concerns tarnish Ruto's affordable housing project

As President William Ruto’s ambitious but controversial housing levy rages on, the affordable housing scheme has triggered a series of land ownership wrangles in some parts of the country.

In one instance, over 3,000 residents in Gikumari village in Ruiru have been entangled in a land ownership row with a private developer, who is thought to be a high-ranking official in the Kenya Kwanza government.

The residents, who have been living on the land in question since the 1980s, were last week dismayed after heavily armed police officers escorted the earth movers to construct roads in the area.

Although the local administrators had claimed that the property owners’ land documents are fake, Lands CS Alice Wahome has maintained that the land belongs to the locals and has instructed the police guarding the prime property to move.

“I am telling those who were behind the move to grab the 2,550-acre parcel of land to forget about it for the land belongs to the title deed holders. I saw a woman who was featured on news channels crying that they were told their titles are fake. Your ownership documents are genuine."

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Wahome also asked the officers attached to Ruiru Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to take action and bring to book those involved and withdraw police officers insisting that crooks forged a title deed purporting that it belonged to Ruiru East Block 4.

"They initially started with LR No 72811 for the entire block and then found that may not work; they cancelled it and came up with LR No 172788. The document being floated and a copy were forwarded to me by a person whom I won’t disclose, but in some official capacity other than the land office.

"That title belongs 72811 to property LR No 295/343 in the City of Nairobi measuring 0.4063 ha. This property is currently registered under the Evangelical Mission for Africa. That number belongs to another parcel of land and it was brought to the land for Ruiru East Block 4," the CS said.

She said, according to the Title Register, the document LR 172788 was later issued to LR No 5180/1, a land parcel situated in Nanyuki, Nyeri district.

"This means we do not have any title going by the Number 172788. Ruiru East Block 4 and is not available for conversion or for issuance with any other title. It is a clear forgery," she said.

The land straddles the Eastern Bypass and Juja Farm where locals who were members of the Juja Farm 1976 Ltd and Githunguri Ranching Company settled for over 40 years after acquiring it from a colonial settler.

“We hope the intervention by the Lands CS will bring closure to the controversy and that our fears of being evicted will come to an end,” John Wahianyu, a resident of Gikumari, said.

As the debate rages on, the affordable housing project led to the demolition of properties in Makenji village in Murang'a, including two churches last month.

The properties have been established on a five-acre piece of land where the affordable housing project is taking place. The residents who claimed to have been on the land for over 30 years were shocked to find two churches, Bethel and East Africa Israel church (Akorino), demolished by the contractor.

The contractor has already fenced the land as the project commences. 

Bishop Ezekiel Ndung’u of the East Africa Israel Church said the church has been operating on the land for 30 years but claimed he had been asked to demolish the structure to pave the way for the project. Their facilities, including drums, clergy’s clothing, pews, and tables, were found strewn all over the compound.

“I told them I would not demolish the church because it was built to serve God,” he said as he led prayers outside the church, vowing to continue holding Sunday services on the land.

The Murang'a county government, through its Chief Communication Officer Leonard Guchu, said the county government had advised the contractor to initiate dialogue after realising there were entities claiming the land.

“The county government opposes this move and indicates it has alternative and unoccupied pieces of land elsewhere to grant the national government for the project," Guchu said.

A section of leaders has continued to oppose the model by which the government land is donated to developers, claiming the project will end up being a land-grabbing scheme.

Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba said the programme is a plan to take land from rightful owners and give it to other people, saying it was a scandal in waiting.

"Housing Levy is the most contentious issue, and the legal framework that has been managing the issue of housing, to me, is still not very clear," she said.

"When I said this is scandalous, I meant that there are schemes of taking over prime land and handing over that land to other players unconstitutionally, unprocedurally, and irregularly, and some of us will pay for what we are doing in the future."

The legislator has been at the forefront of criticising the Finance Act 2023, which saw several tax laws implemented.

Two months ago, Marsabit Senator Chute Mohamed, who spoke on the floor of the National Assembly, poked holes into the intention of the Affordable Housing Programme.

The Senator, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Roads, said it does not make sense that the government is giving land for the project free of charge yet the final product is sold to Kenyans at a premium price.

"This issue of Affordable Housing is a scam. If you look at the government giving land for free, the same government is giving tax-free building materials, the same government is giving value-added taxes free, and also transferring that land free of charge," he said.

But the Head of State, in his New Year address, cited the affordable housing scheme as one of his major achievements, saying although it has encountered legal challenges, the project had achieved a lot.