Nakuru Muslims vow to protect their land from grabbers
Chairman of Muslim Association in Nakuru County Faezz Ahmed Nasher pointing to a building on a seven acre land in Section 58 in Nakuru Town on December 6, 2019. He was accompanied by other officials. PHOTO | FRANCIS MUREITHI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
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The officials said the section of the land that had been grabbed was earmarked for the construction of a mosque.
Members of the Muslim community in Nakuru Town have vowed to protect their land from land grabbers.
Led by chairman of Muslim Association in Nakuru County Faezz Ahmed Nasher, they warned those who have encroached their seven-acre land in upmarket Section 58 estate to leave.
“This land was allocated to the Muslim community by the defunct Nakuru Municipal Council in 1993 and we have all the documents,” said Mr Nasher in Nakuru on Friday.
INTEGRATED SCHOOL
Mr Nasher who was accompanied by the chairman of Supreme Council of Muslim in Kenya (Supkem) Nakuru branch Yusuf Kisangi, said the association intends to construct an integrated public school on the land.
“The school we are intending to construct will benefit both Muslims and non-Muslims,” said Mr Nasher.
However, he said their efforts to get land documents were frustrated as the then land officials who collaborated with a rival Muslim group and annexed part of the land.
“Two and half acres were annexed from the original land and we were issued with a title deed for four and half acres instead of seven acres,” said Mr Nasher.
The association had started a project to build a school but it stalled as it attempted to recover the two and half acres of land that had been annexed.
“This controversy has persisted for more than 20 years until this year when the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in Nakuru recovered the grabbed land,” said Mr Nasher.
ARMED GOONS
The officials said the section of the land that had been grabbed was earmarked for the construction of a mosque. They thanked the EACC officials for recovering their land.
They complained that their efforts to put up a perimeter wall around the land to keep off grabbers has been frustrated as armed goons pulled down a section of the wall on Wednesday night.
“We are urging those who claim to own a section of this land to go to court and obtain a court order instead of destroying our perimeter wall at night and threatening our night guards with guns,” said Mr Nasher.
Nakuru County Supkem chairman Yusufu Kisangi said they will not allow grabbers to frustrate their efforts to develop the land.
