Parliamentary committee asked to resolve controversial land tussle
Barre Shill, the chairman of Parliament' Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, addresses squatters occupying a controversial piece of land in Kamagut, Uasin Gishu County, on November 7, 2016. PHOTO | DENNIS LUBANGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
The squatters, who were displaced after the government acquired the land, want to be allocated alternative land and be allowed to cultivate on part of the idle land belonging to the factory.
A parliamentary committee has been asked to help resolve a land row between squatters and a bullet-manufacturing factory in Eldoret town.
Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago has asked Parliament’s Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations to move with speed and resolve the controversy involving the ownership of some 1,700 acres of land in Kamagut.
More than 600 squatters and officers from the Kenya Ordinance Factory are laying claim to the controversial parcel.
The squatters have accused the officers of harassment and destruction of their property in the dispute.
“I have been following up this issue with the National Land Commission but the relationship between the squatters and the officers has gone sour in the past few years,” said Governor Mandago at Maili Tisa Shopping Centre in Turbo constituency during a meeting convened to end the dispute.
The county boss was accompanied by MPs Barre Shill and Elisha Busienei, all members of the committee.
The squatters, who were displaced after the government acquired the land, want to be allocated alternative land and be allowed to cultivate on part of the idle land belonging to the factory.
“We should be allowed to continue tilling the land as relevant government departments sort out the contentious land issue,” said Mathew Koech, a squatter.
The squatters have clashed frequently with military officers, who have accused the locals of encroaching onto the protected area.
During the meeting, Mr Shill said his committee will investigate the issue.
“We will look into claims that the military officers have been imposing fines and confiscating the squatters' livestock,” Mr Shill said.
The Fafi MP added that “the public hold the supreme power in our country. We will see to it that this issue is resolved and a win-win situation achieved. We need the relationship between these two factions returned to normalcy.”
Three months ago, the military officers allegedly raided more than 10 farms occupied by the squatters and destroyed maize crops.
The irate residents retaliated by stoning the officers, injuring some of them.
