Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome has moved to assure shareholders of Kihui Mwiri land scheme in Gatanga, Murang’a  county, that they will get their title deeds.

She promised to get to the root of the longstanding dispute and settle the matter with finality.

The killings that have happened over the land were unacceptable, she said when she presided at the issuing of title deeds to members of the Kagaa Farmers Cooperative Society in Maragua, Murang’a.

“This is one of the land schemes where we have had senseless killings due to the tussle of ownership, because of some selfish people who want to grab the land from the rightful owners,” she said.

Multiple allocations

The previous administration, she said, had started issuing titles to the shareholders but the process stalled when cases of multiple allocations surfaced and only a few members received land ownership documents.

“I will ensure only the rightful owners get the title deeds because we have so many people who claim to be shareholders but they are not,” she said.

“Land is a very emotive issue and we need to handle it very carefully because we don’t want people to kill each other.”

About 300 shareholders of Kagaa received their title deeds, while the rest will have to wait for the liquidation process to be completed.

“The Ministry of Cooperatives has deployed a team of liquidators who will be here for the next six months, and once they are done with their work, the other shareholders will get their documents,” she added.

Fees reduction

The CS also ordered a reduction in fees that shareholders are supposed to pay for the processing of titles – from Sh75,000 to Sh30,000.

“I’m going to ensure this will be a very transparent process and won’t allow anybody to take anything he doesn’t own,” she said.

Meanwhile, Maragua MP Mary Waithira has sought the intervention of Wahome to settle a land dispute involving a farm called Muthanga in Kambiti that is home to over 1,000 families.

The families have lived on the land for about six decades but they are treated like squatters because they don’t have land ownership documents, she said.

‘Pangas under pillows’

There is tension, she said, because people who claim to own the land have threatened to evict the residents.

“These people sleep with pangas under their pillows ready to defend themselves from anybody who might come to evict them because they have been calling this place home,” Waithira said.

The land, originally owned by European settlers, was sold through the land settlement office, but it was bought by people other than those who were working for the settlers and had been living on it.

“The government should [find] money to refund to those who bought the land and permanently settle those who have been living here to settle the dispute,” she said.