How fraudsters are landing Kajiado residents in trouble

The County Government of Kajiado has raised the red flag over increased fraud in the region, warning that conmen are targeting expansive community land through illegal subdivisions. 

Majority of land conflict cases have been pitting plot owners and individual free-hold parcels of land, but a new trend has emerged where some local leaders entrusted with communal land are colluding with grabbers to disinherit locals.

 Some elected leaders, senior civil servants and rogue officials in the Ministry of Land and the National Land Commission (NLC) are said to be facilitating the fraud after bagging millions of shillings.

 Owners unaware

Cartels are even ignoring pending court cases by writing forged letters that the community has agreed to Alternative Disputes  Resolution (ADR), before subsequently subdividing land with the owners unaware.

The latest target is Keekonyokie Trust Land measuring approximately 2,700 acres, whose value is about Sh70 billion, situated at Kibiko near Ngong Town.

Eleven people are said to have subdivided the land to companies and non-locals, prompting the county’s Ministry of Land office to cancel the processing of title deeds.  At least 718 people, including unknown non-local relatives and the dead, have been listed as beneficiaries of the communal land, leaving out natives.

Crafty grabbers have also taken to social media to create conflicting lists of respected locals, saying they have approved sub-division of the land

In some cases, parcels of land have been earmarked as conservation areas despite being prime land with native settlement. 

For instance, Oloika Primary School has been allocated five acres, but the parcels are in sections and apart as far as 8kms. 

 In a recent crisis meeting, tearful natives protested against the illegal subdivision, saying it could render them homeless.

A senior official at the Independent Policing Oversight Authority has been implicated in the scam.

“The land’s mother title is with the community. Corrupt cartels in the ministry of land, aiding to forge documents, are messing up our county. It is a worrying trend that, if not urgently addressed, is likely to plunge the county in a messy and bloody situation. The public should be cautious when buying land, and for community land, which are being advertised for sale at way cheaper prices,” said Hamilton Parseina of the county’s Minister for Land.

Not for sale

Parseina further says the county has embarked on advertising earmarked community land being eyed by fraudsters. “As the county, we are focused to save potential investors from being conned by grabbers. However, each individual has an obligation to exercise due diligence and responsibility while transacting land matters,” he added. 

The Keekonyokie land was being utilised as a public livestock holding ground until 1956, then the government reverted it to the local community in 1999.

A process of subdividing the land among the members in 2018 was dimmed by a splinter group that went to court to bar the move. Two factions of political leaders have emerged, with some elected leaders also named as beneficiaries supporting the subdivision, and others, led by Governor Joseph ole Lenku, opposing the move.

Lenku, instead, appeals to the Director of Criminal Investigations to intervene.

 “The land belongs to Keekonyokie community. As a Maa leader, I will not tolerate any move to disinherit them,’’ said Lenku..