A disagreement almost turned physical after police officers attached to two police stations in Nairobi and Machakos counties clashed over the ownership of a disputed piece of land.
Police officers attached to Njiru Police Station in Nairobi's Kasarani Sub County, clashed with their peers from Mavoko Sub County in Machakos over a prime parcel of land that lies in the border of the two sub-counties.
The officers are entangled in a dispute on whose jurisdiction the land lies, consequently accusing each other of invading their territory.
Speaking to local media on Saturday, March 19, Athi River Deputy County Commander, Charles Wambugu, accused the Njiru officers of stepping in and resolving land disputes in his region without involving his officers.
"There has been too much interference from the OCS in charge of Kamulu, especially on matters involving land disputes. He resolves without involving our officers," stated Wambugu.
The officers from Njiru in Nairobi County, moved in to resolve a land dispute pitting a developer and the locals, with the latter accusing the developer of encroaching on their property.
The locals claim that officers from Njiru have been arresting and harassing them, further arguing that the cops were being used by the developer to forcefully evict them from the land.
They opine that the developer is trying to illegally disfranchise their land.
"I have farmhands in my plot. They stay there so that they can thwart any attempt to grab the land. However, they are arrested from time-to-time by the officers and I get frustrated because I have to go all the way to Kamulu to bail them out," claimed a landowner identified only as Florence.
The Mavoko police boss, however, noted that he was in the process of convening a meeting with his Njiru colleague inorder to resolve the stalemate.
Cases of land grabbing in Nairobi have been on the rise, with some residents accusing police of aiding the grabbers.
On March 16, the Inspector General of Police, Hillary Mutyambai, was fined Ksh500,00 by the Senate Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committee after failing to honour summons to respond to queries on evictions that had taken place in the informal settlements of Pumwani.
Mutayambai was scheduled to explain why police officers failed to ask stop the demolitions until the person claiming to won the land produced the relevant documents including a court order to pull down the structures.
The Senate noted that it would still ensure that the police boss respects the summons even after he pays the fines.
“We are not going to stop at the fine. The IG must appear before this committee,” committee Chairman and Homabay Senator, Moses Kajwang, noted.
