Uhuru freezes registration of new land buying companies

President Uhuru Kenyatta issues a title deed to Ndung'u Matheri, who was among the shareholders of the Kihiu Mwiri land in Murang'a on September 16, 2015. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • President Kenyatta justified his directive by saying that registration would help identify directors who can be held liable in case of fraud.
  • Eight directors of the Kihiu Mwiri land-buying company have been killed in mysterious circumstances and others are missing.
  • Other directors are facing murder charges over the land row.

President Kenyatta has frozen the registration of land buying companies.

He said the freeze should only be lifted once MPs pass laws to regulate the conduct of such firms.

The Head of State said land buying companies that are already registered should also clear with the Ministry of Lands before conducting any business.

Before getting the clearance, they will need to show where the land they are buying is located, the directors involved and a clear succession plan for the firms, he added.

“The freeze takes effect immediately and the ministries involved should take action,” he said.

He was speaking on Wednesday at Kihiu Mwiri scheme in Gatanga, Murang’a County, after issuing title deeds to shareholders of the controversial land buying firm.

The new measure is aimed at solving the woes bedevilling land companies, he said.

The clearance would help to identify directors who can be held liable in case of fraud, and to weed out companies that collect money from the public but do not buy and distribute land as required, according to the President.

EIGHT DIRECTORS KILLED

Eight directors of Kihiu Mwiri company have been killed in mysterious circumstances related a dispute over land allocation to shareholders. Others are missing.

Their colleagues are facing murder charges over the land dispute.

During the function, a relative of one of the missing directors tried to get to the President but was whisked away by guards and bundled into a police vehicle while wailing.

President Kenyatta issued 3,411 titles to shareholders of the firm.

Others will be issued by the end of the month.

The President also distanced himself from a group calling itself Uhuru Mashinani, which is collecting money in central Kenya by promising contributors that they will get land.

The group claims the President has given it land, a claim he denied Wednesday.

“Those are thieves and fraudsters. I have not given anybody land to sell or give. They should be in jail,” he said.

Kandara MP Alice Wahome had said the group was going around Murang’a County soliciting money “on behalf of the President”.

President Kenyatta also vowed that the killers of Kihiu Mwiri directors would be brought to book.

He advised men receiving the titles not marry “second younger wives”.