Murkomen defends land acquisition in Samburu
By Rawlings Otieno, April 3, 2025The government has leased more than 80,000 acres in Samburu County for the development of security infrastructure and training facilities, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said.
Murkomen told the Senate Lands Committee, chaired by Mohammed Faki (Mombasa), that the government has been leasing the land for the past 10 years and had invested in infrastructure.
He argued that the law provides for compulsory land acquisition to safeguard public interest specifically public safety, adding that Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) owns 36 hectares in the area.
“The decision by the National Land Commission was guided by the public interest to be served by such acquisition, availability of land and availability of funds by the acquiring entity for purpose of compensation,” said Murkomen.
Murkomen’s revelation came after Samburu Senator Steve Lelegwe sought to know the criteria used by NLC to grant the land to the Interior Ministry and whether public participation was carried out to establish the needs of the Losesa community.
Lelegwe said the community was against their land being taken away and was ready to lease it for up to 50 years instead of compulsory acquisition and that the residents were concerned that their land was getting depleted without them benefitting from it.
“As a community, we are opposed to compulsory land acquisition. We are ready to lease the land even up to 50 years but not to lose out our land through compulsory acquisition,” charged Lelegwe.
However, Murkomen clarified that public participation was done in October last year and involved all the stakeholders including the NLC, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), National Government Administration Officers (NGAO), the local leaders and the County Government.
“The National Land Commission will value the property as per international valuation standards taking into consideration the market value of the land and loss of business due to the running lease and the legally allowed disturbance allowance,” said Murkomen.
At the same time, Murkomen told Senators that in the Witu Nyangoro Ranch in Lamu County squatters invaded the land in 2015 allocating themselves parcels of land without the consent of rightful owners and constructing temporary structures.
He said that during campaigns politicians promised to petition the courts to award the squatters portions of land which emboldened other residents to invade further parcels with some squatters starting to sell part of the ranch to unsuspecting members of the public.
Murkomen said that it was worth noting that the management of Witu Nyangoro Raanche was given allotment letters in 1971 by the government for conservation efforts and as grazing holding areas for their livestock before the squatters’ invasion in 2015.
“Following the invasion by squatters both the management committee of the ranch and squatters sought legal redress and various court cases ensued with the Malindi Court determining the ranch rightfully belonged to Nyangoro Ranch Limited,” said Murkomen.
Nominated Senator Shakila Abdalla asked Murkomen when the squatters on the land would be evicted and measures taken by the Witu Police Station OCS to stop more invasions by more squatters.
Murkomen said that consultations are currently ongoing on the best way to implement the order while at the same time mitigating the social economic impact on the squatters currently occupying the land.