Fresh tension stalls IDPs move to farm

Grumbling by newly-elected leaders has compelled the government to suspend the resettlement of 900 landless people at a farm on the Nakuru/Narok counties boundary.

The provincial administration on Monday said it had stopped allocating the more than 2,400-acre Rose Farm to internally displaced persons and Mau Forest evictees until the local leadership was consulted.

Rift Valley provincial commissioner Osman Warfa confirmed he had asked the Special Programmes ministry to suspend the resettlement until a political truce was reached as fresh tension had emerged over the property acquired by the government in 2010.

Some host communities are unhappy with the programme and are said to be planning protests at the farm.

The tension is being stoked by the newly elected leadership in Narok and Nakuru counties who say they were not part of negotiations on the distribution of the farm.

Leaders in Narok North led by MP-elect Samuel Tunen have differed with his predecessor, Heritage minister William ole Ntimama, who played a key role in convincing his Maasai kinsmen to allow the resettlement of IDPs on the land, which the community claims as its heritage.

Mr  Ntimama was initially among local leaders opposed to the decision to resettle the IDPs but had a change of heart last October and urged the community to support the resettlement.

A senior administrator said the community changed its stance when it learnt that the compromise solution entered by their leaders was to have 600 acres allocated to a group ranch instead of local squatters.

“We are aware that after the elections, tension has been building up in Narok and it would not be advisable to relocate the IDPs without consulting the new leaders,” said the administrator.

The property is currently leased to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and Agricultural Development Corporation for research.