A family with ties to former President Uhuru Kenyatta has raised alarm over the alleged grabbing of their land in Eastleigh, Nairobi County, sparking a plea for intervention and justice.
According to the aggrieved family, the disputed land, situated in Eastleigh, was seized by unidentified developers shortly after President Kenyatta's retirement in 2022. Erecting a fence around the property, the developers have reportedly obstructed the family's access to their rightful land.
Expressing their distress, one family member lamented, "When our father was alive, we were being compensated for our land. That building erected there, who are they paying?"
Kamu Muigai, a relative of the former president, revealed that the family had confronted the developers upon the commencement of construction, only to be met with rejection and defiance.
The developers purportedly urged them to seek legal recourse through the court system.
In a bid for redress, the affected family has called upon Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Land Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome to intervene and facilitate the return of their property.
This dispute is emblematic of a broader issue highlighted by a report from the Kenya Land Alliance, released in January 2023. The report unveiled alarming statistics, indicating over 200,000 land titles have been generated through illicit land grabs since the country's independence.
The Kenya Land Alliance emphasized the gravity of the situation, citing data from the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), which estimates the magnitude of land grabbing incidents.
The organisation decried the proliferation of land-grabbing cases, warning that such activities jeopardize the security of land tenure across the nation.
Drawing attention to the plight of the Kenyatta family, this latest development underscores the urgent need for robust measures to address land disputes and uphold the rights of rightful landowners.
In response to the escalating crisis, authorities are being urged to take decisive action to resolve the dispute and hold accountable those responsible for the unlawful appropriation of land.
Efforts to secure justice for the Kenyatta family serve as a crucial test for Kenya's commitment to protecting property rights and combating illicit land grabbing.
As the family continues to seek recourse through official channels, their plight serves as a stark reminder of the pervasive challenges confronting land ownership and tenure in the country.
With the eyes of the nation fixed on this unfolding saga, the resolution of this dispute will carry significant implications for the broader struggle against land grabbing and the protection of property rights in Kenya.
