A section of Mt Kenya residents drawn from Kiambu and Murang’a counties pleaded with Water Cabinet Secretary (CS) Alice Wahome to help them secure a parcel from a vast plantation in the region.
Under the umbrella of the Kandara Residents Association, the residents laid claim to 7,400 acres of 22,000 acres owned by a multinational juice company.
While calling for Wahome’s help, the association noted that land valued in millions of shillings would benefit 5,000 squatters reportedly affected by historical land injustices.
“As an association, we successfully petitioned the Parliament and in court to be allocated the land in 2021.
“We are begging our leaders led by Wahome and the current Parliament to help implement the recommendations by last administration’s Parliamentary Lands Committee,” they remarked in a statement.
The Kandara Residents Association alleged that the land belonged to the government, so the plantation was sitting on it illegally.
They further stated that the continuous disregard for orders given by Parliamentary Lands Committee was trampling on their rights.
“We are the original owners of this land. We were forcefully evicted and we urge our politicians to help us reclaim our land,” they beseeched local Mt Kenya leaders.
On December 2021, the Parliamentary Lands Committee recommended the allocation of 7,000 unused acres of the plantation’s land to the residents.
The committee recommended that the land be allocated to the association and the two counties in a ratio of 70:30, respectively.
At the time, the recommendations were seen to bring an end to a long court battle between the Kandara residents and the multinational company.
Despite the Committee giving 60 days for the recommendations to be implemented, there has been no progress two years later.
