Moi regime top officials to lose illegally acquired land in Nandi
Nandi Governor Stephen Sang.
What you need to know:
- It has been a source of dispute between the allotees and squatters who say it is ancestral land.
- NLC Vice Chairman James Tuitoek reversed the allocation to the prominent personalities he did not name.
- Several tea and sugar multinationals own huge tracts of land in Nandi and neighbouring counties.
- Soy MP Caleb Kositany also asked the government to revert grabbed lands to their owners.
Prominent people in President Daniel arap Moi’s government are expected to lose more than 20,000 hectares of land acquired illegally in Nandi County.
The National Land Commission (NLC) has recommended that title deeds for the pieces be revoked following the expiry of the 99-year lease period.
The land in Chemelil, near the Nandi-Kisumu county border, is under sugarcane.
It has been a source of dispute between the allotees and squatters who say it is ancestral land.
While touring the land, NLC Vice Chairman James Tuitoek reversed the allocation to the prominent personalities he did not name.
“Most are absentee landlords and the allocation is revoked to facilitate the resettlement of squatters. This is one way of resolving historical land injustices,” Prof Tuitoek said.
He added that the land would be divided and given to families displaced during the colonial period.
“Justice will prevail if genuine squatters settle on their ancestral land,” he said.
Multinationals
Several tea and sugar multinationals own huge tracts of land in Nandi and neighbouring counties.
Governor Stephen Sang launched a campaign more than a year ago to have the land whose lease has expired given to locals.
“It is unfortunate that the evicted families are living in deplorable almost six decades after the country attained independence,” the governor said.
He added that his administration has launched a drive to seek compensation for families evicted from their lands by the British.
The devolved government has sought the services of top lawyers, including Mr Kharim Khan who represented Deputy President during his crime against humanity case at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The Nandi County Assembly even allocated the devolved government Sh108 million to sue the British government at a London court.
Mr Sang said the Nandi county government would not accept a blanket apology from the British government.
The government has come under attack from North Rift leaders for not making public and supporting the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) findings.
The leaders want the report tabled in the National Assembly and Senate, saying that would help heal historical socio-economic injustices.
Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi told President Uhuru Kenyatta to implement the TJRC report “if you are really determined to win the war on corruption”.
“The government must implement the report. People who grabbed land in post-independent Kenya should return the parcels to their original owners. We cannot win the war on corruption when grabbers are free,” Mr Sudi said.
Soy MP Caleb Kositany also asked the government to revert grabbed lands to their owners.
“The report was prepared using taxpayers’ money. Coffee and tea farms should be managed by county governments,” he said.
