Land shortage hits town as individuals grab 200 plots

More than 200 plots worth billions of shillings belonging to the Meru County Government have been grabbed in Meru Town alone, it was confirmed on Tuesday.

County Executive for Planning, Lands and Housing Martin Bikuri said the plots were in the town’s prime areas.

He said 42 plots along the Kanyuru River were in private hands after greedy individuals colluded with corrupt officials of the now defunct local government to grab the valuable plots.

“The most affected parts of Meru Town are Milimani Estate and the area near the National Museum. A 50 by 100 metre plot near the museum is valued at Sh30 million while those in Milimani can fetch up to Sh25 million,” Mr Bikuri said.

He, however, said no public land had been grabbed since the county government came into being.

Mr Bikuri on Tuesday accused the National Land Commission of failing to act over the massive land grabbing.

NOT SERIOUS

He said his office had identified all grabbed land and forwarded a report to the commission which he claimed was not taking the matter seriously.

Mr Bikuri said most of the prime public land in Meru Town and other parts of the county was grabbed by top people in government as well as the rich in the 1990s and up to 2000.

The county government expects President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene when he tours Meru County this weekend.

“We have prepared a memorandum for the President on the land problem in this county. Grabbing of public land is also rife in Nyambene and Buuri where adjudication is going on. We expect the President to address the problem and help in the reclamation of public land,” he added.

He said the county government was not intimidated by the land grabbers but needed support from the land commission to name and shame the big fish involved.

“My department has compiled a list of the grabbed land and the National Land Commission is aware of the situation. We have been waiting for it to act. They said they would be in Meru in April. I don’t think they are taking this matter with the seriousness it deserves,” Mr Bikuri said.

MOVED TO COURT

The executive lamented that in areas where the county government had tried to reclaim land, the grabbers had moved to court.

“We had plans to build high-rise staff houses at Kirukuri and Cathedral estates but after we told people to leave they rushed to court. Those evicted from riparian land along the Kanyuru River have also gone to court. We have renovated offices for the Department of Lands but cannot occupy them because people refuse to leave the compound,” he complained.

Mr Bikuri said land between the Kenya National Library and Ministry of Water offices on the Meru-Makutano Road was allocated to a politician who later sold it.

He said he could not name the grabbers without the help of the land commission as he was fighting “big people”.

“Meru County is not timid and has not been intimidated by the land grabbers because we have raised the issue with the relevant commission. But to some extent, I am intimidated because I am fighting against very big names. Some of them have been coming to us asking to be given the plots but we have stood our ground. I urge them to return the land so that we can expedite our development plans,” he said.

He revealed that various national and county government institutions had to shelve their development plans due to lack of land.

ALL LAND GRABBED

“The Judiciary has approached us with the intention of building a Court of Appeal in Meru but all the land is gone. The Teachers Service Commission intended to build its headquarters but someone claims to own the land where the current office stands,” Mr Bikuri said, adding that the Auditor-General’s office as well as some county government departments were in the same predicament.

Grabbers had also stalled a county government public-private partnership effort to construct a 15-storey office block at the current three-quarter acre municipal yard after they snatched surrounding plots.

“The number of private investors looking for land in Meru is very high. A Malaysian investor needed land to set up a factory but none was available. We are appealing the National Land Commission to sort out the mess.”

The county official noted that some of the people involved were allocated up to 10 plots of public land in Milimani and the suburbs of Meru Town.

And to crown it all, the land earmarked for the construction of the county headquarters is also in the hands of grabbers.

Mr Bikuri said the county government was fighting to remove individuals from a piece of land in Gakoromone who were refusing to move despite being paid compensation.