We were dispossessed of our land, former Juja Sisal Farm workers claim

Justice is very expensive, 59-year-old Peter Sakala said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. On his knees lay piles of paperwork that would have cost the former workers of Juja Sisal Farm Limited a fortune.

These are documents that trace the arduous journey of the ex-workers in search of justice over the 5,005 acres of land, LR. No. 10904/2 Block 105 along Kangundo Road.

Nestled between Njiru and Ruai, the vast piece of land has been at the centre of endless bloody and protracted legal battles within the controversial Embakasi Ranching Company Limited.

With this, the Embakasi Ranching rollercoaster has entered another intricately twisted phase of a well-orchestrated land acquisition scheme involving well-oiled urban politicians, police and senior civil servants.

As a result, the less fortunate former workers of Juja Sisal Farm have lost what would have been a "hefty inheritance" from their former "master" - Sir Wigum.

Mr Sakala is the chairman of the Ex-Ranching Employees Self-Help Group, a lobby group for former Juja Sisal Farmworkers and their survivors. The Ex-Ranching Employees Self-Help Group, which has over 600 members, claims that the land from which the Embakasi Ranching Company Limited has been profiting for over four decades was left to them by their "master".

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“Sir Wigum left the country before settling our salaries, allowances and other benefits. He handed over the title deed to our farm manager, Edward Itindi, for equal subdivision as compensation for employees’ emoluments at the ratio of five acres and two cows per employee,” explained 84-year-old Josphat Mutua Mbole. “By then, the parcel LR. No. 10904/2 Block 105 was occupied by Juja Sisal Farm employees and other ‘squatters’.”

Mr Mbole, a resident of Ruai, and his wife had worked for Sir Wigum since 1970.

In a letter to the Registrar of Titles dated December 18, 1975, Sir Wigum and Peter Beredge, the then owner and director of Juja Sisal Farm Limited, transferred LR. No. 10904 to their employees. Through their lawyers, Wigum and Beredge urged the Registrar of Titles to facilitate the issuance of new title deeds to their workers.

But nearly 47 years later, the 425 workers, including Mr Sakala's mother, the now deceased Dorika Asiko Sikhule, have neither claimed the land nor benefited from it.

 What Mr Mbole and his former colleagues hoped would be the fruits of their hard work for their children and family has evaporated as they watched helplessly. Years have passed and a new class of young billionaires has basked in the glory of their sweat. 

“The people who have benefited from this land are not us, the former workers of Juja Sisal Farm. We struggled for years to make a living, only for strangers to seize our land, live large and make a fortune,” said an angry Mbole.

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Salim Tukuta Kaema was born and raised in Ruai, where both his parents worked for Juja Sisal Farm Limited. When Sir Wigum left, Mr Tukuta said, his parents were left stranded.

“Although Sir Wigum had left behind land and cattle for his workers, they never benefitted from it. We, their offspring, have been pleading in courtrooms and government offices for years, but we have never been heard. Our land case has been handled by so many judges, and it never gets anywhere as they get threatened and recuse themselves,” said a tearful Mr Tukuta.

The Nation is in possession of documents that show how the land passed from Sir Wigum's hands to his former workers, and how various instruments were registered against the title in quick succession to pave the way for provisional title deeds and subdivisions.

“Former Embakasi MP, the late Muhuri Muchiri, approached us with the idea to bring in directors to assist us in making the 5,005-acre parcel profitable and we obliged,” Mr Sakala recalls, adding: “The MP went ahead and hived [off] 1970.5 acres from LR. No. 10904/2 and constituted Embakasi Ranching Company Limited,” said Mr Mbole.

“Since a majority of us could neither read nor understand English, decisions were made on our land without our approval.”

Documents from the defunct Ministry of Lands and Planning show that Embakasi Ranching acquired a title deed LR No. 42040 for the 1970.5 acres on 12 March 1987.

“In 1995, I moved to court to stop Embakasi Ranching from proceeding with their activities on the land, but the court did not listen to me. Instead, Embakasi Ranching came out strongly in court because they had very powerful and senior people in government,” said Mr Sakala.

Over the years, Embakasi Ranching's activities have expanded beyond the 1970.5 acres in the title deed.

“Muhuri Muchiri was the last entrant into that land. His title was 1970.5 acres, but the company has extended their activities into our land. We want what has remained of our land, over 3,034.5 acres. Let them leave this portion to us, peacefully,” Mr Sakala insisted.

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The prime land on the outskirts of Nairobi has over the years attracted the rich and powerful, with 50x100 acre plots now selling for as much as Sh15 million. It is a haven for senior judicial and police officials, influential politicians and wealthy businessmen. As a result, the city's affluence has spread eastwards along Kangundo Road. As a result, the fortunes of the Embakasi Ranching Company have flourished.

“Politicians, police chiefs, civil servants and local administrators have apportioned themselves parcels of the land with every change of regime. This is strategically done in order to silence us,” said Mr Tukuta.

“I appeal to President William Ruto to intervene in our case so we do not lose what we worked for in our youthful days. Our children and grandchildren also deserve to [build] their future on what our former master had left behind for us. Our years of hard work should not just go to waste as we watch strangers even fight for what is ours,” Mr Mbole pleaded, adding that they are live in fear and are constantly gagged.

TOMORROW: Read about the 50-year pain and anguish of old people waiting for their share of Sh2 trillion Embakasi Ranching land