Six Murang’a farmers still waiting for help from Uhuru

One of the farmers Kamuiru village in Maragua, Murang'a Country who has been affected by the unlawful acquisition of land for a road project. The farmers have accused Kerra of evicting them from their farms without following due process.

Photo credit: Mwangi Muiruri | Nation Media Group

Twenty days after six frustrated farmers in Murang’a County wrote to President Uhuru Kenyatta seeking his help in a case where a roads agency has illegally created a public access road through their land, they are yet to get any response.

Their frustration is that no government official has bothered to respond to their plight despite outgoing Murang’a County Commissioner Mohammed Barre confirming that he received the letter on behalf of the president.

The farmers own parcels of land referenced as Loc 17/Iganjo/2204, 1870, 1871, 1826, 2205 and 4020. 

The title deeds are in the names of Julius Kihato, Nahashon Ndung’u, Naomi Wanjiku, Esbon Mucheru, Habel Karanja and James Irungu, respectively.

On October 19, 2020, district Surveyor Peter Njeru visited the area and filed a report that incriminated Kenya Rural Roads Authority (Kerra) for illegally encroaching on the private land, pointing out that there exists an abandoned public road in the neighbourhood that should have been upgraded. 

He charged the farmers Sh18,000.

But according to Kerra national office, the plight of the farmers can only be resolved by arbitration since it is bred from local contracting arrangement.

Dereliction of duty

"In our engagement with National Government-Constituency Development Fund contracts, the MP as the patron assumes the limited role of contracting authority and our specific engineer acts as our eyes on the ground. In this case, the most ideal authority is (Kerra engineer Shadrack) Muoki,"  Veronica Mbatha of Kerra communications office told Nation on phone.

She said regional offices are best suited to deal with all grassroots contracting issues in conjunction with the patron, the area administration and the surveyor.

Meanwhile, Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata and Iganjo Residents Youths Association Forum Chair Mr Mixson Warui want some administrators in Murang’a South Sub County sacked for allegedly embarrassing the President over the issue.

 Mr Kang’ata said the administrators have failed the president “since area map clearly shows the road is illegally cut and the affected families have been seeking help from their offices without being listened to.”

Mr Warui said the situation where all the administrators are engaged in blame game “is a dereliction of duty that warrants sacking.”

Central Regional Commissioner Wilfred Nyagwanga conceded that the matter should not have escalated to the attention of the president had local government officials strived to sort out the complainants.

In the recent blame game, area Assistant County Commissioner (ACC) Mr Joshua Okello blamed local MCA Macharia Wa Gathoni and MP Mary Wa Maua for the encroachment.

“But I am engaging the area MCA to set aside a road upgrade budget that will see an abandoned government access road in the area gravelled so as to pave way for the closure of the offending encroachment,” he said.

Ms Wa Maua, who had been blamed too by the local Kerra engineer Mr Muoki for patronising the encroachment had earlier blamed the ACC and area chief Mr Rufus Mwangi.