Parents protest grabbing of school land in Nakuru
Parents of Nairobi Road Primary and Secondary schools in Nakuru demonstrating on March 23, 2015 over alleged grabbing by a private developer of land belonging to the school. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Joseph Kariuki, the school's chairman, said the private developer had already subdivided it into nine plots.
- He said a search had indicated that the land in question was public land.
- The parcel of land is meant for the expansion of the school whose population is currently more than 1,500 in both primary and secondary.
- Nakuru County Land Management CEO Frank Kibelekenya said that the piece of land belongs to the school.
Parents of Nairobi Road Primary and Secondary schools in Nakuru on Monday staged a demonstration to protest the grabbing of a section of the school land by a private developer.
Mr Joseph Kariuki, the school's chairman, said that besides the school management having all the documents for the one-acre piece of land where the nursery school section is standing, the developer had already subdivided it into nine plots.
“After the government directed all schools to acquire tittle deeds, we immediately acquired the documents but someone came out claiming ownership,” he said.
He added that the school did a land search and verified the ownership of the piece of land with both the county commissioner’s office and the National Land Commission (NLC) that showed that it was public land.
He added that the parcel of land adjacent to the school is meant for the expansion of the schools, whose population stands at more than 1,500.
Mr Frank Kibelekenya, an NLC official in Nakuru County, addressing Journalists at Nairobi Road Primary School on March 23, 2015 after parents and pupils demonstrated over alleged land grabbing of school land. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
RECORDS SHOW IT IS SCHOOL LAND
While showing the three copies of tittle deeds issued by the NLC, Mr Kariuki added that the school management had visited all the relevant offices and the records indicated that the piece of land belonged to the school.
“We wrote to the Ministry of Education, the county government and the National Land Commission and the report indicates that the piece of land belongs to the school,” said Mr Kariuki.
He called on the government to revoke the tittle deeds issued to the private developer as soon as possible so as to allow the expansion of the school in order to accommodate the increasing student population.
Nakuru County NLC CEO Frank Kibelekenya said the piece of land belongs to the school, adding that the commission is already investigating the case.
While urging members of the public to refrain from encroaching on the public land, Mr Kibelekenya added that the commission was ready to listen to the developer if he presents himself.
“The commission is ready to hear his side of the story, but if he continues to hide, legal action will be taken against him,” he said.
