Grabbed 250 acres of public land recovered

The National Land Commission (NLC) has repossessed 250 acres of land belonging to the county government.

Announcing the recovery, Governor Anne Waiguru said the land on which she intends to put up a Sh6 billion industrial park had been grabbed by a certain individual.

She was speaking at the Anglican Church of Kenya, Kimuri, in Kirinyaga East Sub-County during a thanksgiving service over the weekend.

Waiguru said the grabbing was reported to NLC, which confirmed that the individual had not been allocated the land.

“Now that NLC has helped us get the 250 acres back, we will embark on building the industrial park as planned, “she said.

Although public land grabbing has been a thorny issue in the area, this is the biggest recovery by the county so far.

The governor claimed the land grabber had colluded with some county employees.

She said the location of the land was ideal because of a railway line at Sagana.

Processed farm products from the industrial park are expected to be transported to the market through the Standard Gauge Railway, once modernisation of the railway line is completed.

“Farm produce which include coffee, horticulture will all be processed and value added at the park in readiness for export and this will certainly improve the earnings of our farmers," she said.

Waiguru announced that more grabbed public land has been identified and a recovery process initiated.

The governor warned those occupying such land to move out before they are ejected once NLC gives the green light.

Already, there are fears that some 200 acres meant for research land in Mwea may have been been grabbed.

Waiguru, who was accompanied by her deputy, Peter Ndambiri and Gichugu MP Githinji Gichimu called for unity among leaders in the region.