Waiguru receives title deed for county land reclaimed from grabber

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has received the title deed for a 250-acre piece of land that was repossessed from a grabber and given back to the county government.

While receiving the documents for the land situated in Thigirici on Monday, Ms Waiguru said that this was a significant moment for Kirinyaga County, given that the land returned to the public after a protracted court battle pitting the government and a private developer.

She said that the public land, which is in Ndia Constituency, had illegally ended up in the hands of an individual through collusion with some officers in the defunct Kirinyaga County Council.

“We have gone through a long process of litigation and finally we have the 250 acres in the name of the county government, which means we can now go ahead and establish an industrial park as earmarked in the county’s development master plan,” Ms Waiguru said.

Milestone achievement

The Kirinyaga governor noted that the recovery was a milestone achievement since the planned industrial park will be a powerful manufacturing hub that will serve the county and the larger Mt Kenya region.

“The park will become the centre of manufacturing and processing, spurring economic development through the industries and the supporting infrastructure such as hotels and real estate,” said the governor.

She noted that the development will have an overall massive economic impact on the wellbeing of Kirinyaga residents.

She added that farmers from the county will have a wider market for their produce as well as additional income from value addition.

Railway transport

Ms Waiguru also said that the industrial park, once complete, will be strategically placed given that the land is just next to the Sagana Railway Station, as it comes at a time when the region’s railway transport system has been revived.

At the same time, the governor warned anyone occupying public land to return it. She reiterated that her administration will ensure that all land meant for public use will be repossessed.

At the same time, the Kirinyaga governor revealed that her administration has also recovered more parcels of land including 200 acres in South Ngariama allocated for public utilities including a university, a hospital and recreational areas.

She added that the process of issuing title deeds to the bona fide owners of the 17,000-acre South Ngariama land, some of which had been taken by fake allottees, is underway.