Victims of historical land injustices in Isiolo cry out for justice

By , April 9, 2025

A community in Isiolo is up in arms against what they term as encroachment on their land by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

At the same time, victims of historical land injustices in Isiolo have called on National Land Commission (NLC) to hasten hearing petitions so that they can get justice.

Speaking during NLC public hearings at the Catholic Diocese of Isiolo grounds, the Ngaremara Community in the outskirts of Isiolo town which comprises of Chokaa, Nakuprat and Manayatta Zebra areas lamented that their economic and social life have been adversely affected due to loss of land which rightfully belongs to them.

They stated that after completion of the construction of the Isiolo-Moyale highway, the KDF established a base in the area and set up the School of Engineering and since then, they have continued to lose land left to them by their forefathers.

“We have lost over 18,000 acres of land which have been taken over by the KDF. Our people have become internally displaced due to loss of their homes and the education of our children has also been affected since a school that used to be within the area was destroyed. Graves of our parents and grandparents have also been interfered with,” said Zachary Luchilia, an elder and resident of Ngaremara.

Dominic Ngoyan, who presented his petition before the commission said as the Turkana community, they no longer have space to carry out economic activities.

“We filed the petition in 2022 and have produced all the evidence needed so that we can get justice. We want to be heard and hope that the commission will look into our case because we don’t want our future generations to be affected,” said Ngoyan.

Prof. James Tuitoek, a commissioner at NLC noted that the high number of claims across the country has delayed NLC’s efforts reaching to reach all cases.

“We received 3,743 claims across the country. In Isiolo County, we received 27 claims, some of which are not admissible,” said Tuitoek.

“We have been in Isiolo since 2022 to investigate some land cases involving the Isiolo International Airport, KDF, Ministry of Livestock and other small disputes and we are hopeful that by the end of this year, all the determinations in Isiolo will be out,” he added.

Tiyah Galgalo, also a commissioner at NLC, urged residents of Isiolo with land cases to co-operate.

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