Civic leaders in ‘grabbing’ spree ahead of polls

By County Team

Corruption is on the rise in Mt Kenya region with civic leaders engaging in frenzy to grab public land ahead of the General Election.

Some councillors are being accused of colluding to sell cemeteries, cattle dips, market stalls and real estate owned by councils.

A survey by The County Weekly has discovered that widespread grabbing of public land is underway in Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Murang’a and Laikipia Counties.

And our investigations show that the public utility most favoured as a target for grabbers is cattle dips.

Good opportunity

The Central Provincial Director of Veterinary Services (PDVS), Peter Njau has sounded an  alarm over the disappearance of land set aside for cattle dips in the region.

In his annual report covering the 2011 financial year, the PDVS says Murang’a County leads in the disposal of cattle dip land with the status of dips in nine villages at stake.

The report names the villages as Kamune, Kiamutuii, Karunge, Ruru, Iruri, Koro, Gatunguru, Gatore and Kagongo.  Another 14 cattle dips are reported to have been demolished in Kangema, Kandara and Murang’a.

In Kirinyaga County, cattle dip plots at Kombuini, South Ngariama and Kiamugumo villages have been grabbed.

The PDVS recommends that the Government gazettes all dip plots and put them under the Director of Veterinary Services as a public trustee. 

There are a total of 1,108 cattle dips in the five counties in the province translating to almost the same number of acres of land at stake during the transition.

According to the PDVS, there are 253 dips in Murang’a, 234 in Nyandarua, 249 in Nyeri, 262 in Kiambu and 110 in Kirinyaga all vested in local authorities.

Over three quarters are not in use due to changing animal husbandry in the region, presenting a good opportunity for crafty civic leaders and council officials.

Besides cattle dips, there is  speculators have descended on public land in Kerugoya and Nyahururu where private developers are hastily putting up residential houses.  

There is disquiet in Kirinyaga where the public is demanding answers on the rationale of hiving off a half of the land meant for a bus park in Kerugoya town and ‘allocating’ it to a private developer.

The bus park is now congested and public service vehicle operators are up in arms demanding for parking space.

Deputy town clerk David Mwangi Githaga claims there were high-level secret connections between the allottees and Ardhi House insiders in Nairobi.

“What we are shown are only lease papers duly authorised from Nairobi by the private developers and we are not in the picture as to how the allocations were carried out,” he said.

Mr Julius Mugo, a resident in the town, claimed many civic leaders and chief officers of the council were in league with the private developers and are responsible for the mess the Local Authority is in.

Multi storeyed buildings

“You cannot claim you are not in the know when a person brings those lease papers from Nairobi to the council which in turn sanctions everything only later for you to turn round and accuse the Ministry of Lands in Nairobi of being the main culprit,” he says.

Also in the hands of a number of private developers is a huge chunk of land located within Congo Estate in the town that houses civil servants and council employees.

The developers are busy putting up multi-storeyed buildings as the municipal council buries its head in the sand.

Mr Githaga however denies responsibility for the mess maintaining he was posted to the council just recently and found the allocations already sanctioned.

Town Clerk Kaio Mbulusi, who was also recently posted to the area, was said to be out in the field when The County Weekly made inquiries.

In Nyahururu town, civic leaders at the council have allegedly grabbed over 150 kiosks recently built at the bus park by the council for traders.

Although officials have denied the allegations, traders who had been allocated the kiosks have now been refunded the money they had contributed to partly finance construction. 

“A motion was passed that the kiosks should be given to the needy in each of the six wards and the councillors were to spearhead the exercise. They instead ended up in the hands of councillors who are now selling them,” says an aggrieved trader who had originally been allocated one.

The council had initially requested that each of the interested parties contribute Sh36,000 to own a kiosk but the funds were refunded under unclear circumstances.

Secret resolution

Investigations now reveal that some of the councillors had been allocated three kiosks each, which they are now selling at Sh300,000 each. 

A source told The County Weekly that the civic leaders passed a secret resolution that they share out the kiosks among themselves so that they could give them to their needy electorate.

“It was upon us to fit the doors and after doing the final work, the council told us to remove them. Each door cost us over Sh10,000 and this money has now gone to waste,” one of the dispossessed beneficiaries says.

It has also emerged that a section of councillors have allocated themselves a disused cemetery where the civic leaders were putting up residential houses.

Nyahururu Town Clerk Meshak Kimani has in the past denied the allegations although some civic leaders have already put up rental houses.

Other councillors have brought building materials to the site ready to start construction.

It is alleged that each of the eight councillors has acquired three to four plots at the cemetery land, which has a number of graves.

There have been complaints from local residents that the council did not follow laid down procedures when degazetting the cemetery land.

Diverting sewer lines

In Murang’a town, new plots are being created by diverting sewer lines and access roads.

At Mukuyu market, locals are protesting against alleged allocation of land near a water reservoir.

Two civic leaders have been implicated in a plot to dispose of the land located between the Kanu office and a residential building.

In Kiharu Estate, Ministry of Lands officials have been asked to help resolve a protracted dispute after investors claiming to have bought a piece of land erected a fence blocking an access road.

It has also been established that members of the provincial administration lack knowledge in land transactions in the town leaving the council to take up the role of custodian.

Insiders at the council told The County Weekly that a Physical Development Plan (PDP) is being drawn up in an attempt to legalise plots that had been allocated illegally after 1992.

A number of properties in dispute in Murang’a town are said to have changed hands after 1992 when District Commissioners were appointed as chairpersons to plot allocation committees.

Murang’a Mayor Mercy Kimwe denies some of the plots have been disposed of by civic leaders.

“As a resident of Murang’a, I cannot be part of a plot to ruin the town entrusted to me by the electorate,” says the mayor.