Resolving land disputes with KDF top on Isiolo Senate aspirant’s agenda
Isiolo Senate aspirant Mohammed Nuh (centre) during a meeting with Turkana community professionals in Isiolo town on May 28, 2022. He promised to help resolve land disputes between residents and the military if elected on August 9.
Isiolo Senate aspirant Mohammed Nuh has promised to prioritise resolving protracted land disputes between the military and Isiolo residents if elected into office.
Disputes over land ownership pitting communities in Isiolo and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), especially in Burat and Ngaremara wards, have continued to hinder development of the properties, with residents expressing fears that they could lose their ancestral land.
Communities living within the School of Infantry, School of Artillery and that of Combat Engineering have even sued the military over alleged encroachment into their land and hiving off of hundreds of acres of land, displacing hundreds of families and threatening their economic activities such as farming.
Mr Nuh said he will ensure no resident is evicted from his or her land and that he will push for relocation of the government installations to under-populated areas in order to reduce the risk they pose to the people especially due to explosives used by the soldiers during training.
“I will prioritise on resolving the issue which the elected leaders have failed to satisfactorily address and will ensure no one is evicted from their land. In the event of pressure by the human population, it is the military that should move and not the people,” he told Turkana professionals after they endorsed his bid.
Alternative land
The leader said he will adopt a similar approach to the one used by the Samburu neighbours in relocating KDF training grounds in Maralal in 2016 after the county offered the military 1,000 acres of alternative land.
He also promised to lobby for water and infrastructural development projects and job opportunities for Isiolo residents should he take over as third senator under devolution.
“I have the energy and zeal to serve you and I appeal for your support. You are at liberty of choosing leaders for other elective seats,” he told the Turkana community.
Turkana leader Nicholas Lorot said they had resolved to support Mr Nuh in order to get fresh leadership, saying the incumbent Senator Dullo had “failed to amicably push to resolve of land issues bedevilling the community”.
He hailed the aspirant for committing to employ three Turkanas in his office if elected, saying academic papers for many youth from the community continue to gather dust at home.
“We will not vote blindly this time round. We will elect leaders who promise to improve our lives and actualise their promises,” Mr Lorot said.
The professionals told off Senator Dullo for allegedly not escalating the land matter to President Uhuru Kenyatta, saying it would have been resolved.
Take delegation to State House
“As we commit to support you, we seek assurance that you will, if elected, take a delegation to State House to address the land issue,” he noted.
Residents have vehemently opposed a legal notice issued in August 2019 and amended in early 2020 which exempted Isiolo Township, military installations, Lapsset Corridor, holding grounds and national reserves from land adjudication process.
