Lands CS Alice Wahome has urged Kenyans who are aware of school lands that have been grabbed to prepare the land's documents and present them to her office.
Principals, headteachers, and communities in schools whose lands have been grabbed have been directed to prepare the land documents and take them to Ardhi House to facilitate the Ministry's plan to assemble teams that will ensure the lands are returned to the schools.
Public schools are vulnerable to cases of land-grabbing with reports indicating that around 70 per cent of them lack ownership documents for the land they are built on.
Speaking in South B while inspecting the progress of the area market, Wahome revealed that the Ministry would ensure that all school lands that have been grabbed, as well as those under threat of grabbing, are returned to their rightful owners.
The CS made this announcement while outlining her next venture—returning the Lavington Primary School land to the institution. The school’s land has been embroiled in a long-standing dispute, with private developers attempting to seize it.
"Next week, I will be in Lavington Primary. While there, I call upon every principal, headteacher, and community member who knows their school land has been grabbed to prepare documents and bring them to my attention so that we can establish teams to facilitate the land returns," CS Wahome directed.
The CS revealed plans to form a team of eight officers who will be stationed in different regions to address and resolve cases of school land grabbing.
According to Wahome, many schools fall victim to land grabbing due to a lack of proper documentation. However, the Ministry is working to rectify this and ensure that public land is returned to schools.
Lavington Primary School has been entangled in a land dispute with private developers attempting to take over the land for over a decade.
As of 2019, only 30 per cent of the 32,354 public schools had secured title deeds, leaving over 22,648 schools vulnerable to potential land grabbing. Around 4,100 schools have reported being at risk.
