School land titling mess leaves many grappling with limited space

Ms Josephine Kimutai, a resident of Sitotwo village in Keiyo South, Elgeyo Marakwet County, was in her house when a group of people popped in and suddenly asked her to step outside.

She hesitated because they were strangers, but in the blink of an eye, they began demolishing her house.

“They did not even allow me to remove any of my belongings.  Sensing danger, I dashed out and within a few minutes, my house was in ruins,” narrates Ms Kimutai outside the demolished house.

She believes the genesis of the demolition was a protracted land ownership dispute with Sitotwo Primary School, her neighbour.

“There is no written agreement between us and the school, but it was just a local arrangement between our deceased grandfathers and the school management,” she said.

Given alternative land

Apparently, Ms Kimutai’s family and others some decades ago donated the land to the school and they were given alternative land elsewhere but have failed to surrender the property.

They include some individuals who returned to occupy the school land.

“I do not see the reason the school is determined to evict me from my parcel of land yet I own the land. I have all the documents including the parent title deed,” she disclosed.

The Nation has established that four decades ago, the then Keiyo South MP, the late Nicholas Biwott, seeing the need for locals to acquire education, ordered more schools to be built.

And through the local education board, he asked families living adjacent to upcoming schools to donate land to them.

They agreed and they were compensated by the government with land in Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu counties.

Each was given land twice the size of the parcels they donated. They got anywhere from five to 15 hectares.

Stayed put

But now, the children and grandchildren of the landowners who entered into an agreement with the schools have stayed put on the donated land, leading to bitter feuds despite assuming ownership of the land given to them by the government.

In the sub-county, over 10 schools are grappling with limited space after individuals refused to totally surrender the land they donated to schools and move out.

Apart from Sitotwo, other affected schools include Kamosong, Kapngetik, Kipsanai, Kipsaina, Yatiane, Kamwago, Kapsamich. The government has now embarked on repossessing the land.

The story of the schools in Keiyo South is a tip of Kenya’s school titling crisis.

In 2015, following the alleged grabbing of a Lang’ata Primary School playground, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Ministry of Lands and the Nairobi County government to issue title deeds to all learning institutions.

Ownership documents

The President also directed that school land ownership documents be processed and registered in the names of school committees and management boards.

He urged leaders, including members of county assemblies (MCAs), to lead the war of reclaiming any stolen land belonging to schools and report to authorities in their regions.

“If you are an MCA and know there is public land that has been grabbed, inform us so that appropriate action can be taken to ensure justice has been done,” he said.

As of 2015, only 4,999 schools had been given titled deeds since independence. This averages to around 86 schools each year, President Kenyatta said last week.

“Today, over 12,000 schools out of a total 32,354, have been issued with titles because of multi-agency efforts. This is 2,000 schools every year, 23 times what previous administrations had done,” President Kenyatta said in his State of the Nation address.

“My administration has upheld the fundamental right to education, and initiated a process to ensure that no school is sitting on land that it does not own.”

Idea poorly executed

Area education director, Pius Kosgei, said though the idea was noble, it was poorly executed and documented, which has now led to disputes.

“The challenge we are facing is not brought about by the landowners (the majority now deceased) who entered the agreement with schools but their children and grandchildren who have disregarded the previous agreement and built homes on the supposed school land. They should have moved out as soon as they agreed to be compensated with land elsewhere,” Mr Kosgei said.

But what baffles the education official is that the affected families have occupied the parcels they were offered as compensation, with some even selling it while still holding on to the plots that should be school land.

“Some of the land cases are already in court while others are being handled by chiefs and even the deputy county commissioner. It is encouraging to note that some schools have resolved to put a caveat on lands until the cases are handled,” he disclosed.

Mr Johana Chesoni, whose family has also refused to surrender the land he occupies and whose house was also demolished, maintains the parcel was not part of the agreement.

“The plot my family lives in is number 28 while the land already surrendered to the school is plot number 33. There is no way I can surrender the land that my father did not donate to the school and even if they demolish the houses I will never vacate. I will take them to court,” he said.

But Sitowo Primary School headteacher Flora Maiyo accused the families of insincerity, saying the land ownership tussle has been going on for too long.

Quest to reclaim land

“The two families had moved out and occupied the lands they received as compensation, only for them to return years later and since then we have had challenges. The school's former headteachers and other government officials tried to reclaim the land and the quest is ongoing,” she said.

Ms Maiyo said the families admitted at several meetings held to resolve the impasse that the land belongs to the school and it beats logic that they were still holding on to it.

“We have documentation and witnesses but we wonder why the families are adamant. The school is grappling with little space, the playing field is congested and there is no room to expand buildings including for dormitories because the school is surrounded by encroachers,” she said.

Ms Winny Kipchumba, a parent with a child at one of the affected schools, blamed previous administrators in the area for laxity in dealing with cases of land grabbing.

"These people were compensated over thirty years ago, but past governments have turned a blind eye to the encroachment, leaving parents with no choice but to lead in efforts to reclaim parcels rightfully owned by the school," she said.

“We want to prevent the culture of impunity.”

[email protected]