Maragua MP Mary Waithira has issued a two-week ultimatum to the management of Kakuzi PLC to sort out the settlement of the Gachagi residents, claiming she reads foul play in the matter.

The MP said she attended a series of meetings with the company’s board of directors, and it was agreed that the families would be settled.

Speaking when she visited the families, Waithira said the company had approved for review of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was drawn in 2008 to match the current status, and it was agreed that the 25 remaining families would be allocated an acre each for settlement.

“We had several meetings with the company’s board, and even went to the ground to see the land to be allocated to the families,” she said.

The MP said she would lead the residents in a peaceful demonstration to demand their rights, promising to push the matter to the end.

“We will hold demonstrations at the company’s gate once a week until they agree to sort out the matter,” she added.

She said in their last meeting held in March, the board had promised to convene another meeting in two weeks, where the residents would be invited to do the balloting for the allotment of the land.

“Everything regarding the settlement of these families had been completed, but I don’t understand why we are now being taken in circles,” she remarked.

The MP said the matter, which has lingered on for decades, has seen the families live in deplorable conditions, which she termed as demeaning.

“Out of the 35 families, only ten were settled, and the others have been living in makeshift houses waiting to be allocated land,” she added.

Further, she claimed some of the residents are being intimidated in a bid to stop pursuing the matter, adding that she won’t relent until the matter is resolved.

She said the company has a history of violating human rights and historical injustice,s and denying the families who have worked there for decades is one of them.

“We are going to escalate the issue to the international level and won’t relent until justice is served to the families,” the MP stated.

“I have written a letter requesting a sitting with the board and am expecting to get their response so that we get the way forward to it,” she added.

The residents further alleged that Kakuzi Company has intensified surveillance in recent years, deploying drones over the area as they interpret this as an act of intimidation, suggesting the company is attempting to discourage further demands from the squatters.