Two people were reportedly shot dead by police as a tussle over land took a wrong turn on Monday in Tindiret, Nandi County on Monday, September 29.
In harrowing scenes in the contentious Kimwani land, more than 600 people infiltrated the area in an attempt to evict occupants of the piece of property.
The infiltrators, who were mostly youth armed with crude weapons, claimed the Kimwani land belonged to them and was allegedly grabbed more than four decades ago.
The youth are said to have launched a well-coordinated attack on the land, but authorities caught wind of the plan, and a clash soon followed.
Images and videos of the clashes between civilians and police painted a worrying scene, as live bullets were fired by authorities in a bid to disperse the hundreds of youth who, at one point, retaliated.
From the ensuing melee, two people were fatally shot, with one dying on the spot, while the other lost his life while receiving treatment at a hospital in the county.
Confirming the incident, Nandi Police Commander Thomas Ototo warned youth against being used by political figures to settle decades-long scores.
"Everybody has a right to own pieces of land in this country, so we will not allow that (land grabbing). I want to appeal to our youth not to be used."
A week earlier, occupants of the Kimwani land raised alarms of decades-old squabbles over the land, which they claim was taken away from them during the era of the second president, Daniel Arap Moi.
"This land was initially taken by colonialists, but when we gained independence, the land was not given back to its owners; it was given to the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC)," one resident lamented.
The 10,000-acre parcel has been at the centre of disputes for a decade, with the battle for the land's ownership mainly involving squatters and influential figures.
While the land was initially under the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) between 1965 and 1995, the pieces of land were allocated to high-ranking government officials during Moi's era in the late 90s, sparking controversy.
Many of the squatters on the piece of land are local residents who were employed to work in the agriculture industry by ADC.
Today, more than 10,000 families reside in the contentious land, although area residents claim some of their neighbours have been forced to flee in recent years out of fear for their safety.
