Kitale land grabbers put on notice

The Trans Nzoia County government has put private developers who have encroached on public land on notice.

Governor Patrick Khaemba said audit reports have revealed that defunct local authorities irregularly sold or awarded individuals public land in towns.

“People who were in charge of the defunct local authorities gave out or sold all the land meant for development to private developers,” said Governor Khaemba on Monday.

Addressing the press during a tour of the Kitale Bus Park that is currently under construction, Governor Khaemba indicated that irregular land allocations were hindering the town’s expansion and plan, adding that his administration was committed to dealing with the issue firmly.

“It is shocking to note that the land where my office and the County Assembly stand was illegally acquired before we reclaimed it from grabbers. At the moment, the land where the district hospital and our polytechnic stand is owned illegally by a private developer not forgetting our Social Hall,” added Governor Khaemba.

He also said that his government was forced to purchase an alternative piece of land to accommodate the fire station after it was discovered that the proposed one was under a private developer.

He said that the Kitale bus park was initially measuring five acres but it is now an acre.

The County chief reiterated that the land belonging to the Rift Valley Railway was the most affected with influential businessmen having been unprocedurally awarded leases up to 15 years to erect business premises at the expense of economic interests of the town.

“Every day we see illegal structures mushrooming on the land meant for the railway. Our efforts to stop such exercises have been met with court orders stating that the projects were endorsed by our predecessors — the defunct local authorities,” said the Governor.

Mr Khaemba further said that his government had set up a 9-member committee to investigate how public land was grabbed and to ascertain whether the owners acquired the parcels of land legally or illegally.

He said that the committee will work closely with the National Land Commission as it moves to revert the ownership and acquisition of the grabbed parcels of land.

According to him, those who legally acquired the land will be spared but those without proper documentation will be prosecuted.