It’s a welcome move from people whose lands were affected by the dualling of the Sagana-Kenol carriageway after the government finally approved the disbursement of Ksh50 million on December 9, following a three-year wait.
According to the National Land Commission (NLC) commissioner Esther Murugi, the funds will hit the affected families' bank accounts by the third week of December so that they celebrate their holidays.
Speaking in Nyeri during meetings of a two-day Historical Land Injustices claims forum organised by NLC, the commissioner noted that the delayed payment was occasioned by family disputes which derailed the compensation process for over three years.
“We are doing whatever we can with the acquiring agent. We were able to approve Ksh50 million which the affected persons will be able to get by next week. It will be a Christmas gift to them,” the NLC Commissioner said.
“We know the Projected Affected Persons (PAPs) are a bit unhappy, but we also understand the financial situation that the country is in and we would wish that once a project is started the affected persons are paid affront,” she added.
The construction of the carriageway kicked off in 2019 but was halted for over three years due to delayed compensation of PAPs.
The government had allocated Ksh4.8 billion to compensate a total of 2,350 PAPs with 1,350 being residents of Nyeri where the Sagana-Kenol carriageway was set to pass.
The Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) report released in September this year indicated that 453, an equivalent of 34 per cent of PAPs from Nyeri, had been compensated.
The remaining 897 were not compensated due to family disputes over ownership of the pieces of land.
Earlier, the issue of paying the claimants had escalated to the National Treasury, but they were yet to receive a word. Murugi however assured the affected persons would receive the money as the process was completed.
The commissioner lamented the lack of a binding mandate in implementing some of the commission’s recommendations, describing it as a major hurdle that has hindered the speedy delivery of justice to petitioners seeking compensation.
She noted that while the recommended period to resolve a single historical land injustice is three years, the process often depends on respondents who, in most cases, derail it by filing appeals in court.
Affected residents who had not submitted their claims were encouraged to do so via the commission’s online portal or by physically dropping their petitions at the NLC office in Nairobi.
