Meru landowners petition Uhuru for probe on property disputes surge
Lawyer Kirimi Mbogo displays a copy of the petition, for President Uhuru Kenyatta's intervention in a land dispute, by residents of Amung’enti ‘D’ adjudication area in Igembe South, Meru County. PHOTO | CHARLES WANYORO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Residents of the Akachiu, Akithigi, Antu Ba Ngoro, Uringu and Anto Ba Ita clans in Igembe South claim influential people invaded the land and sponsored violence.
- Led by lawyer Kirimi Mbogo, they say “outsiders” want shares of the fertile tracts of land and are behind the increase in crime.
- The complainants want President Kenyatta to order the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the National Land Commission to institute a probe to solve the problem once and for all.
Close to 100 landowners in Meru County's Amung’enti ‘D’ adjudication area have petitioned President Uhuru Kenyatta for an investigation into wrangles over ownership of the property measuring more than 10,000 acres.
Residents of the Akachiu, Akithigi, Antu Ba Ngoro, Uringu and Anto Ba Ita clans in Igembe South claim influential people invaded the land and sponsored violence.
Led by lawyer Kirimi Mbogo, they say “outsiders” want a share of the fertile land and are behind increased crime.
Mr Mbogo said on Sunday that at least seven people had been killed and dozens of arson attacks carried out in one year, leaving residents in fear.
The landowners claimed the attackers were enjoying police protection.
COURT CASE
In an affidavit filed in court last week, Mr Joseph King’ori M’Ikamati, who is accused of killing one George Mithika during clashes in the area, termed Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka as a person of interest, and accused him of pulling strings in the matter.
He told Meru Resident Judge Alfred Mabeya that prior to the killing, groups supported by Mr Musyoka met at Nthanjene and Tumu Tumu police posts and took an oath to evict all farmers from the area.
Mr Mbogo said: “That is why we sent a petition to President Uhuru Kenyatta to order independent investigations into what exactly is happening. Why are thugs meeting and planning violence in a police station? Use of the land has led to a lot of criminal activities. I've suffered five arson attacks."
Mr Mbogo also alleged that Mr Musyoka is interested in a 2,000-acre piece of land in the area, but one of the farmers contested this.
“There is not an inch of Meru land to which Kalonzo Musyoka has an ancestral claim. If he has any land in Meru, he either bought it or it was a gift," he said.
FIGHTING BACK
The landowners last week petitioned the President for a solution, warning that more killings would take place.
They want Mr Kenyatta to order the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the National Land Commission to investigate the problem and solve it once and for all.
“We'll never have peace and our men will be killed year in, year out. The clans will never leave their land. If they are attacked, they will fight back,” Mr Mbogo said.
