Governor, locals impasse threatens division of land
By Oliver Musembi, August 21, 2023A row between the Murang’a county government and Kandara residents threatens to derail a presidential directive on the subdivision of land surrendered by Del Monte (K) Ltd.
Villagers neighbouring the farm, led by the Kandara Residents Association patron Kibiru Njuguna, accused Governor Irungu Kang’ata (pictured) of failing to meet them to iron out differences over the demarcation of 1,400 acres of land ceded by the pineapple growing and processing company.
President William Ruto while on a tour of Central Kenya recently directed the parties to embrace dialogue and resolve the stalemate to allow the government to initiate projects while at the same time settling people there.
Proved fruitless
He asked the association members who have gone to court over the subdivision issue to consider settling the differences between them and the county government out of court within 14 days so that the national government can kick off construction of various projects.
But speaking during a public participation rally held at Makenji trading centre in Kandara constituency, Njuguna popularly known as ‘PMG Junior’ said his efforts to reach the Governor proved fruitless as he does not pick his calls.
He said the timeline given by the President was elapsing, yet the governor has not convened any meetings with them to unlock the impasse.