How Kenyatta government flouted loan deal so that Big Names could get land

The take-over by the rich of farms meant to settle the poor in the high-potential areas infuriated the British Government and confused government officials who did not want to take action or stop continued allocation of the 100-acre plots (Z-plots) to the rich.

Only one man — Mr James Maina Wanjigi, the Director of Settlements — dared to issue a directive to stop the allocation. But he was quickly overruled by Land and Settlement permanent secretary Peter Shiyukah.

Mr Wanjigi was asked by Mr Shiyukah to compile a list of the VIPs, or “big shots” as he later described them — who had received such land.

“You said that you would want to send this (list) for the President’s retention,” wrote Wanjigi in the covering letter dated January 22, 1966.

These details show why the settlements went wrong from the beginning and why the land equation in the country was tilted in favour of those close to power.

But angry that government officials had started to allocate themselves development funds, and plots in schemes they had funded to settle the landless, the British Ministry of Overseas Development asked the High Commission in Nairobi to seek more details.

Original correspondence from the period highlights the misuse of power.

On June 18, 1965, a year after funds from the World Bank and CDC had been used on the Z-plots without their knowledge, the British High Commission in Nairobi wrote to Mr Shiyukah asking whether the proposal to set aside “some of the best farm houses….with a certain amount of surrounding land had been implemented”.

By the time Mr Neil Brockett of the High Commission was writing this, he knew already that some key politicians, including President Kenyatta had acquired land in the schemes.

It appears that an April 1964 warning by the officer administering the settlement fund, N.S. Carey Jones that use of the World Bank/CDC money to finance the elite schemes might backfire was not heeded.

This warning, nay appraisal, was given to the Settlement Fund Trustees who were then ministers James Gichuru (Finance), Bruce MacKenzie (Agriculture) and Jackson Angaine (Lands and Settlement), suggesting that they should refer the change of policy to the British Government which had given money for the settlements schemes.

His suggestion, dated April 15, was that the Z-plots could “perhaps be accepted against IBRD (World Bank) schemes without reference back, provided that the buyers are men with agricultural experience and sufficient capital. If they are not then I would foresee that we could not claim any development loan finance for them and this could in turn raise with the British Government the use of the land purchase money,” wrote Jones in the Directive Paper No 35.

No one contacted the British Government on the matter and by July 1965, the Financial Controller (settlements) after “searching through old files” could not find such a letter. “We have therefore now to approach the British Government to obtain approval for the existing arrangements to continue…”.

One person took the bold initiative to stop any further allocation of the 100-acre plots on July 29, 1965. After a special visit by the World Bank and CDC officials, Mr Wanjigi stopped any further allocation of Z-plots because they appeared “to be inconsistent” with the financial agreements reached between Kenya and the lenders.

Approval for plots

“Until this matter is cleared with the lenders, I am afraid we have got to discontinue any more approvals for 100-acre plots,” he wrote.

But when this directive reached Mr Shiyukah, the PS called Mr Wanjigi to discuss the subject and followed it up with a letter. Mr Shiyukah was one of the beneficiaries of the Z-plots.

He wrote: “I confirm once more that if the decision of suspending the allocation of 100-acre plots is implemented, it would be met with a lot of opposition from the President, ministers and the public at large.”

“I agree that as a first step, we should have asked permission from the World Bank and CDC to make alterations in our agreements with them. While we are negotiating with them, it is not necessary to halt our practice of allocating 100-acre plots since we are too far advanced in it.

“I hereby give you authority to continue as before,” wrote Mr Shiyukah.

He also wrote a three-page explanation to the British High Commission suggesting that the original proposal on the Z-plots came from the Officer Administering the Settlement Fund.

It was a lie, because in all the documents, the directive had come from President Kenyatta.

One of the worries of the lenders was that 100 acres were not envisaged in the funding proposal since those type of farmers could have acquired land by private means and without using the British funds to get access to such loans.

Actually, on September 6, 1965, Mr Bruce Greatbach of the British High Commission wrote to Mr Shiyukah asking: “Have any development loans been issued to the purchasers and if so how much?”

That was where the scandal was. When the list was compiled some of the purchasers who had also taken development loans had been omitted.

Some of the land was dished out by President Kenyatta to senior officials and associates who paid nothing. For instance, it is noted in a confidential document that Cilliers House in South Kinangop “was given free to Jesse Kariuki by the President and he paid nothing.”

So secret was the administration of the Z-plots that when Mr Angaine was to go out of the country in November 1965, PS Shiyukah asked whether he could delegate “your power of approving application of 100 acres and the Low and High Density plots to the assistant minister as opposed to the acting minister.”

Angaine responded: “To await my return!”

When Mr Shiyukah asked Mr Wanjigi to compile the list of all those who had received land, he appears to have left some names. But Mr Shiyukah was glad that he had finally a list of who had received what land.

“I thank you for this list you have produced which has names of the big shots who have been allocated 100-acre plots by the Ministry of Lands and Settlement,” wrote Shiyukah, “On examining the list we have discovered that there are many more persons who had been allocated plots but their names do not seem to appear on your list. For example Mr Lugonzo, the deputy mayor, Mr Ngaira, the chairman, Public Service Commission, Mr Robert Ouko, PS, Ministry of Works, Mr Ndisi, PS Labour, Dr Minjo, Mr Kibaki, assistant minister, Economic Planning, etc…”

Mr Shiyukah added that “the minister would like a list of these persons to be included even though some other snags are still existing…”