Illegal land: Ministry sucked into Del Monte land saga
By Anthony Mwangi, August 7, 2019The ministry of Lands is at the centre of a major land fraud after it emerged that Del Monte International company has been sitting on thousands of acres of land illegally.
When he appeared before the National Assembly’s Lands Committee, Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Gideon Mung’aro said documents at the ministry indicate that the firm holds 2,900 acres while those tabled by a petitioner showed the firm sits on more than 22,000 acres of land.
Kandara Residents Association, which has petitioned Parliament seeking to have the food processing company surrender all public land it was holding, told the committee they have evidence that the firm uses only 7,000 acres while 18,000 remains idle.
Through chair Philip Kamau, the association wants to be allocated 8,000 acres which members claim were taken from them by the firm in the early 60s.
“The evidence we have is clear; the firm has been using thousands of acres acquired illegally since documents available show that the land in question is public,” he said.
Association
The association also told the committee the firm has been misleading the government it is locally owned and tabled documents to show that all the directors were foreign, drawn from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Greece.
However, the committee took issue with the framing of the petition, which members said did not represent the facts tabled by the association chair.
“Whereas the petition has merit, it fails in the fact that you cannot prove the county government (of Murang’a) has approved the lease contrary to the Constitution,” said committee chair Rachael Nyamai.
Kamau, however, cited a Supreme Court advisory that it was mandatory for locals to be involved fully before any lease renewal is considered.
He added that the association would produce documented evidence to confirm that the title deeds held by Del Monte were fake while others were just but agreements.