Land commission out to recover grabbed public land
National Land Commission chairman Muhammad Swazuri addresses journalists on December 21, 2015 when he visited public land owned by the Nairobi Water Company that had been grabbed by private developers. PHOTO | GERALD ANDERSON | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri said local communities and the Isahakia family claim the land belongs to them.
The chairman said Karlo had 4,000 hectares, which were set aside for animal research by colonialists, but a big chunk of the land had been allocated to individuals.
The National Land Commission (NLC) is set to recommend the revocation of title deeds and allotment letters issued to individuals who were allocated land belonging to a research agency.
NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri said more than 2,500 hectares of the land in Naivasha belonging to the Kenya Agricultural Research and Livestock Organisation (Karlo) had been grabbed by senior government officials on the pretext that it had been allocated to the community.
“It is a shame that several top government officials are using a poor community as bait to grab land belonging to a public utility, whose mandate is to ensure food security and poverty eradication,” said Dr Swazuri when he toured Narok County.
He said local communities and the Isahakia family claim the land belongs to them.
The chairman said Karlo had 4,000 hectares, which were set aside for animal research by colonialists, but a big chunk of the land had been allocated to individuals.
In 2010, the commissioner of land issued allotment letters to the Isahakia Self-Help Group, which was allocated 4,000 acres.
Dr Swazuri said agricultural research institutes have to be protected and funded to ensure food sufficiency.
He said the NLC would not allow the land to remain in the hands of grabbers.
At the same time, anxiety has gripped some private developers in Uasin Gishu County as the NLC is set to investigate how public utility land was grabbed.
The property includes that of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), the Kenya Industrial Estates and the defunct Eldoret Municipality.
A senior KFS official confirmed that part of the agency’s land on the outskirts of Eldoret had been grabbed by a private developer, who wants to fence it off.
Additional reporting by Barnabas Bii and Wycliff Kipsang
