Family Buries Kin at Night to Avoid KDF Wrath

KDF soldiers during one of their missions in Somalia.
KDF soldiers during one of their missions in Somalia.
File

The Kenya Defence Forces Spokesperson Colonel Zipporah Kioko stated that the military was investigating a case whereby a family in Uasin Gishu County defied warnings issued to them in a fight for possession of land.

On Thursday, August 6, Kioko detailed that the family hurriedly buried kin at 5 a.m to avoid confrontations with KDF who are seeking to repossess the land.

The family and Kenya Defence Forces Recruits Training Collge have been involved in a tussle for over 40 years. 

"We will adequately address the situation after deliberations," Kioko stated, adding that KDF will issue a statement on the case.

 Kenya Defence Forces Spokesperson Colonel Zipporah Kioko
Kenya Defence Forces Spokesperson Colonel Zipporah Kioko
File

The family of the late Grace Tapsawe argued that they were forced to act against the Kalenjin tradition and bury their kin in the morning hours out of fear of facing KDF.

This is the fourth time they have had to bury a relative in the land during the wee hours of the morning before the soldiers begin patrolling the area.

"Military men in full combat gear have been visiting our homes, giving us directions that we should not bury anyone in the farm," a spokesperson of the family lamented while speaking with the Standard.

KDF has been embroiled in several battles with firms and individuals over land in Uasin Gishu County for several years. 

In 2018, questions were raised over how a firm claiming to represent squatters, obtained a title deed of 4,000 acres of Kenya Defence Forces land.

Detectives from the Land Fraud Investigation Unit, managed to seize vital documents and blocked the sub-division of the land. 

In the same year, the defence ministry urged Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti to investigate how fake title deeds were issued to individuals. 

Photo of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers in Somalia.
Photo of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers in Somalia.
Telegraph
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