Agony of Mai Mahiu land buyers locked out of vast ranch by locals
Nominated senator Paul Njoroge (left) talks to Utheri wa Lari members Peter Njehia (centre) and James Kamau. The two were among more than 300 members who were attacked by a group of armed youth in Mai Mahiu this year. PHOTO | MACHARIA MWANGI |
What you need to know:
- Court orders appear to bring little reprieve to members, who have been reduced to IDPs.
- Some members have been killed and others injured while accessing the prime estate bought years ago, despite court upholding the purchase.
In 1983, members of Utheri wa Lari in Kiambu bought land in Mai Mahiu, Naivasha, after successfully raising Sh32.5 million over 10 years from their contributions.
The members — mainly peasant farmers — bought the 22,000-acre land which previously served as a ranch owned by repatriates. They embarked on sub-division. Mr Stephen Muiru, the firm’s chairman, says they processed title deeds and, by 1988, the first group had moved in.
“They brought their families, constructed houses and started cultivating the land and raising livestock. They also developed local infrastructure — providing social amenities like a school, a police post and roads within the property, some of which still exist,” Mr Muiru says.
But their entry sparked controversy that led to a protracted legal battle pitting them against the local community, who claimed it was ancestral land — never sold to anyone.
Mr Joseph ole Kiseu said the group obtained the land fraudulently, a case he termed “historical injustice”.
The troubles fomented to clashes. In the 1990s, during the agitation for multi-party democracy, and during subsequent ethnic clashes, the first incidents of insecurity were witnessed at the farm.
“There were sporadic attacks on individual title holders, intermittent raids and theft of both livestock and farm produce,” Mr Muiru recalls.
The situation continued to deteriorate and, in 1997, they were advised by the then provincial administration to vacate the area because their security could no longer be guaranteed.
DISMISSED APPLICATION
Six years later, members of the local Maasai community claiming interest in the land filed a miscellanies application (No 844 of 2003) at the High Court. They sought nullification of the title deeds but, in her ruling on March 3, 2006, Justice Roselyn Wendo dismissed the application and held that the sub-division and subsequent title deeds created were legal and valid.
In 2010, the same group obtained an order restraining the members from dealing with the land.The order was, however, declared to have lapsed by the effluxion of time on November 4, 2014 by Court of Appeal No 118 of 2014.
Another suit claiming adverse possession was also struck out by Justice Munyao Sila in a Nakuru High Court on May 14, this year, after the local community failed to show title deeds to prove ownership of the land.
But court orders and rulings appear to bring little reprieve to the shareholders, who have been reduced to internally displaced people.
Some members have been killed and others injured while trying to access the land.The latest incident occurred on January 24 when members were attacked while holding a meeting at the farm.
Mr George Ngugi and Mr Peter Kibuja died in the melee. Mr Muiri says that people who have grabbed the land for farming, grazing and harvesting of sand were inciting and financing the locals to fight the group.
After the May ruling, the members, led by Mr Muiru and Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi, who has been pursuing the matter with various government offices, planned and travelled to the area for a prayer meeting, only to be turned away.