Nandi teachers lock horns with ex-MP over land ownership

Former nominated MP Mark Too during a past event. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Speaking at their office in Kapsabet town, the tutors threatened to hold peaceful demonstrations against the former powerful MP in President Daniel Moi regime unless he stops claiming ownership of the disputed land.
  • They claimed they hold a genuine land title deed having bought the land from the EATEC Company which was owned by the Lonrho Africa in which Mr Too used to be Chairman during the Moi regime.

A row is brewing over the ownership of a piece of land after teachers in Nandi County on Monday petitioned the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate how former nominated MP Mark Too obtained some 200 acres of land near the Eldoret International Airport.

The over 5000 teachers from Nandi County claimed that they bought the land from the EATEC Company before 2001.

They called for a probe how the former MP managed to acquire a title deed for the same piece of land as they claim to have been issued with the same document before the former legislator got his.

Speaking at their office in Kapsabet town, the tutors threatened to hold peaceful demonstrations against the former powerful MP in President Daniel Moi regime unless he stops claiming ownership of the disputed land.

They claimed they hold a genuine land title deed having bought the land from the EATEC Company which was owned by the Lonrho Africa in which Mr Too used to be Chairman during the Moi regime.

The Nandi Teachers SACCO officials claimed they bought the land between 1999 and 2001 and they were issued with a title deed in 2003.

The land in question is registered as Pioneer/Ngeria Block 1 (EATEC) 2917 in favour of the Nandi teacher’s society and the title was issued to teachers by the Ministry of lands in Eldoret town.

According to the teachers who included the former Sacco chairman Mr Zachariah Kuto, Mr Christopher Biwot and Sammy Sawe, the original documents of the said land at the lands offices in Eldoret have been plucked off by unknown people so as to imply the teachers were not the real owners.

"Teachers and Sacco officials carried out an official land search in 2012 and found the land was still under the ownership of the Nandi Teachers SACCO," said Mr Kuto.

They protested they don’t know how and when documents changed to indicate the land as belonging Mr Too.

Teachers also asked Land Cabinet Secretary Prof Jacob Kaimenyi and the National Land Commission to take action against the land registry officials claiming that they issued a second title deed to the former MP for same land on June 15, 2005.

Attempts to get a response from the former MP proved futile as his phone was switched off.