Kirinyaga, Embu counties row over Mwea scheme
What you need to know:
- Five people were injured in Embu after being attacked while going to assess their land at the Mwea settlement scheme.
- Governor Waiguru claims land allocation process lacked public participation.
But the Embu County Lands Executive Josphat Kithumbu said the process had been finalised.
Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru has opposed the allocation of land at the Mwea settlement scheme to some 7,200 beneficiaries, saying the decision was against an active court order.
Ms Waiguru on Friday accused the Embu County government of attempts to cause animosity between the two neighbouring counties following its decision to move into the disputed land.
In a press statement to newsrooms, the governor claimed that the surveying and allocation of the land was not inclusive as it lacked public participation and the primary stakeholders were not involved.
“Our attention has been drawn to media reports attributed to an official of the county government of Embu that the process of surveying and allocating land at the Mwea Settlement Scheme, jointly with the National Land Commission, and is now complete,” she said.
BOUNDARY ROW
Surveyors from the National Land Commission, this week, finished the erection of beacons on the 44,000-acre property.
But the Embu County Lands Executive Josphat Kithumbu said the process had been finalised.
“The surveying and issuing of titles was done according to relevant laws and that all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Lands, NLC and Attorney General’s office were involved,” he said.
Ms Waiguru said it was wrong for the county government of Embu to use the allocation to divert attention from the historical question of Embu County and Kirinyaga County border that remains a thorny issue.
“Mwea settlement scheme land belongs to the people of Kirinyaga and the Mwea settlement scheme residents,” she said. “All the purported title deeds issued in respect of the Mwea settlement scheme are invalid because due process was not followed. Titles were produced before demarcation and allocation of land.”
The land was subdivided in 2016 and 7,232 title deeds issued. However, the squatters living there are yet to be shown their parcels.
The settlement scheme was maintained in the old Embu District in 1933 by the Carter Commission, which settled the traditional boundaries between Kirinyaga and Embu communities.
Ms Waiguru has instead called for the formation of a taskforce comprising of representatives of ministries of Interior, Lands, National Land Commission, Kenya National Human Rights Commission, representatives of MPs for Mbeere South and Mwea, Embu and Kirinyaga counties to resolve this matter within 90 days.
