Governor Lenku distances himself from controversial Kibiku land

Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku has distanced himself from the controversies surrounding the disputed 2,800-acre Kibiku land in Kajiado West sub-county.

The governor said he is not a beneficiary of the land although his name has been included as one of the owners.

Appearing before the National Assembly Lands committee on Wednesday, Mr Lenku claimed his name and that of some county officers were added to the list of owners by malicious people.

He told the committee that he in fact nipped attempts to illegally issue title deeds of the land by some unscrupulous companies even as two groups are involved in a fierce battle over the prime land.

The county chief claimed a faction of the Keekonyokie Community Trust, which owns the land, had submitted an illegal list of beneficiaries to the Ministry of Lands for issuance of title deeds.

He said the side, led by Moses Ole Monik, had contracted a private surveyor to subdivide the land without approval of the county government as required by law.

The group allied to Mr Monik and another one led by Moses Ole Parantai are at loggerheads over who are the bonafide officials of the trust.

He said the former group is in possession of the Trust’s certificate of incorporation while the Parantai group is in possession of the title deed.

The governor said he had met the two groups and agreed that they each provide their list of members for scrutiny.

However, when one list came out, the Monik group inserted his name and several private companies as beneficiaries.

“I do not belong to this Keekonyokie community so I cannot get that land. I don't own any part of that land. One faction put up our names to sanitise the list. Dubious companies had been formed to sneak in non-members to benefit from their land,” said Mr Lenku.

Hard pressed by the North Mugirango MP Joash Nyamoko-led committee to explain what action he has taken since finding out his name was in the list, Governor Lenku said he instructed the County Attorney to sue the officials for defamation and the process is on course.

He admitted the community was getting impatient and said that recently, more than 1,000 women from the community stormed his office demanding a quick solution to the land stalemate or else they take the law into their hands.

Kirinyaga Central MP Gachoki Gitari and his Kilome counterpart Paul Nzengu called for a speedy resolution of the matter to avert any conflict.

Mr Nyamoko said the Kibiku matter was emotive and said all care must be taken to avoid invasion of the land by members of the public.

“The matter has the potential to degenerate into a fracas like we are experiencing in other parts of the country. We shall work hard towards its conclusive end,” said Mr Nyamoko.

The committee will be visiting Kajiado on Friday to engage with residents on the issue. The land measures 2,800 acres and borders Nairobi and Kiambu Counties and has many developments including modern houses and public institutions.

The land was set aside in the 1970s by the Ministry of Livestock as an animal-holding ground before the community later on managed to have it reverted to them as communal land with the help of the then area MP George Saitoti.

The government has since stopped the subdivision of a controversial land with Kajiado West deputy commissioner Moranga Murekwa in January saying the exercise will wait until two warring groups claiming ownership agree.

One of the battling groups has accused the other of subdividing the said land and selling it to non-Maasai. The group being accused has since denied generating a list of people, containing the alleged new beneficiaries.