Groups swap title deeds to end long-drawn Nakuru land row

A 41-year row over two pieces of land in Solai and Oljorai, Nakuru County, pitting two groups will now be a thing of the past after the two agreed to swap tittle deeds

The dispute involves the Lari-Nyakinyua land buying company and the Ruyobei group.

The piece of land in Solai was bought by the Lari-Nyakinyua group in 1975 but the Ruyobei group later settled on it as squatters.

When the Lari-Nyakinyua group demanded to have their land back, the Ruyobei group, with the help of former president Daniel arap Moi, purchased a piece of land of the same acreage at Oljorai but they never moved.

The two groups have now agreed to settle the ownership dispute of the 8,000 acres of land by swapping their tittle deeds and allowing people to continue living where they are currently.

PARCELS OF LAND SOLD

Speaking during a meeting with the two groups on Wednesday, National Land Commission (NLC) chairman Mohammad Swazuri, however, noted that some directors of Ruyobei had already sold parcels of land in the Oljorai farm.

"Some of the directors have already sold parcels of land in Oljorai to unsuspecting customers with the aim of getting a share from the two farms," said Dr Swazuri.

He said the Ruyobei members will not move to the Oljorai farm as suggested earlier since they had lived there long enough and had established their families.

AVOID COURT

He warned the directors against moving to court saying that this is what they have been doing and hence the 41-year delay in getting justice.

"Moving to court will not help you as the commission, under the Constitution has the mandate to seek alternative means of dispute resolution [on] both public and private land with a history of dispute," he said.

Dr Swazuri said after a series of court cases to resolve the dispute, the matter was handed over to NLC for resolution.

"The matter was handed over to the commission in 2013 and we decided to use alternative methods of dispute resolution as provided by the Constitution," he said.

Nakuru Deputy Governor Joseph Rutto expressed relief that the row that has lasted for more than four decades is finally being resolved.

He urged members of the two groups to maintain peace even as the government seeks a lasting solution to their problems.

Dr Swazuri, who was in company of Nakuru Land CEC Rachel Maina, said the Ruyobei group will not move to the Oljorai farm as suggested earlier but the two groups will instead swap their tittle deeds.

"The process will be complete in one month as we are already behind schedule according to the directive issued by the deputy president,” said Dr Swazuri.