Until October 31 this year, locals from six locations in Chesongoch Division, Kerio Valley were upbeat that they could soon acquire their community land title deeds, a vital document they were yet to get since independence.
Apart from the acquisition of title deeds, the marshall plan by the devolved unit to demarcate land was also targeting to solve the perennial bandit attacks and stock theft in the border villages which are mostly orchestrated by protracted land feuds and avoid the invasion of criminals from other neighbouring communities in the guise of looking for water and pasture.
Most of the land in banditry prone Kerio Valley is still owned communally and people move freely, an indication why there are perennial attacks over invasion.
To facilitate the process, locals last month attended a meeting convened by the Elgeyo Marakwet county government at the AIC Chesongoch to pave way for the land adjudication process.
Daniel Chesos, the community land chairman from Kasegei village in Chesongoch told the Daily Nation that the process started in February last year when officers from the national land commission toured the area to inquire from locals if they were welcoming the idea to have their land adjudicated and issued with title deeds.
The locals, he said, unanimously agreed and in November the same year, the county government and a land registrar officer toured the area and advised locals to register to be recognized as a community.
Massive rocks at a homestead in Kipkenda village, Keiyo North of Elgeyo Marakwet County on November 3, 2025.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group
“We started by electing more than 15 people as the interim committee and paid Sh5,000 as community recognition fee,” said Mr Chesos.
On February 27, 2025, the team also toured Murkutwo Location to facilitate the election of a community land management committee where another 15 people were elected who were also trained in September this year.
“We were in the process of registering community members so that we form a community assembly, comprising all members of the community who are above 18 years of age who claim land in the locality. We had registered more than 785 members in Kasegei village just when the landslide struck, killing people and sweeping away homesteads. This village was the worst hit with more than 15 people confirmed dead,” said the community land chairman.
A view of Chesongoch Mission Hospital in Kerio Valley, Elgeyo Marakwet County on November 08, 2025, following landslides that occurred on October 31, 2025.
The landslide hit Kaptul, Kasegei, Kwenoi and Kipkirwon villages in Chesongoch on November 1, 2025 killing more than 39 people. Nine others are still unaccounted for, while 32 others sustained injuries.
“We were in the process of taking the Sh5,000 community land registration fee to the lands offices in Iten to get a certificate when the tragedy struck. As we speak, we do not know the fate of the process because some land in the area has been cut off and filled with large boulders of rocks… the owners are even contemplating moving out of the area for good,” he added.
After the registration, surveyors were expected in the adjudication areas so that the communities could acquire title deeds.
Massive rocks at a homestead in Kipkenda village, Keiyo North of Elgeyo Marakwet County on November 3, 2025.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya I Nation Media Group
After the incident, some of the affected locals whose land have been filled with debris and rocks and whose houses were washed away, are reluctant to continue residing in the area and considering moving to safer settlements, a move that is feared could hamper the land adjudication process.
“Kasegei village was the worst hit in the landslide that led to more than 15 people losing their lives. Most of the farms here are now covered by large rocks, which is making it difficult for habitation and even development. Some people who were worst hit are reluctant to continue with the land adjudication process and consider moving out of the area for good. We fear that tragedy will scuttle the process,” said Mr Chesos.
John Kurha from Kaptul village who lost more than nine relatives in the landslide indicated that he was part of the villagers who attended the meeting at AIC Chesongoch to pave the way for land adjudication in Murkutwo, Chechan, Kibaimwa, Mokoro, Chemwonyo and Pkotut Locations in Chesongoch Divisions.
He raised concerns that after losing his nine relatives to the landslides that also washed away their land and livelihoods, he is adamant to go back to the same area and has developed cold feet of participating in the land adjudication process.
“Recently, we were at a meeting at Chesongoch AIC church organized by the devolved unit aimed at facilitating the process of adjudication and each one of us getting a title deed but now who will live in such a place that is now full of stones, where you are even not assured of your tomorrow,” said Mr Kurha who is now being hosted at a relative’s house with his remaining family members.
“We have lost everything- our relatives, homes, land and livelihood. As I speak, I don’t even know where we will bury the nine relatives as our land is now a field of rocks. Where will I even take the remaining relatives? If the government is concerned about our plight, they should help us relocate elsewhere because the place is now dangerous for living and also brings mad memories to me,” he added.
Lost his mother and three nieces
Emmanuel Kemboi, another local from Kwenoi village who lost his mother and three nieces is adamant to live in the area.
“I am living in fear and I feel that this area is not habitable for me and my remaining relatives. I lost my mother in the landslide and three of my nieces are in the list of the people who are still missing. The acquisition of the title deeds will not have any meaning to us because our land is now full of rocks. The government should just give us an alternative land,” said Mr Kemboi.
Elgeyo Marakwet county executive (CEC) in charge of lands Thomas Maiyo said from the legal perspective, when the land adjudication process has commenced, then it has to continue irrespective of the challenges they are facing due to the landslides that hit the area two weeks ago.
Shelpha Cherop Yano a survivor of the Chesongoch landslide is overwhelmed with emotion during the search for the bodies of her two grandchildren at Kipkirwon Village in Elgeyo Marakwet County on November 08, 2025.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group
“We eventually have to conclude the process in the adjudication areas in Kerio Valley Sub-County and we will work with the national government so that we look at the areas that have been worst hit by the landslides and adjudicate them under conservation areas,” said Mr Maiyo.
He noted that there are rivers that have been created by the landslides, which have to be recognized now as public utilities and as they do so, he said, they will take into consideration the ecologically sensitive areas and convince the communities on demarcating them under conservation and not register as individual or community land.
“The landslides have given us indication of issues to do with natural calamities and therefore, settlement of people will be in the areas where we think that they are safe,” he added.
Some of the areas that were being targeted in the land adjudication are Sambirir, Endo and Arror.
“The land adjudication is an ongoing process and we did the sensitization of the communities, identification and registration and we have gone ahead in establishing committees for the community land who have been trained. What was remaining was a survey, which was to be done soon before the tragedy struck,” said the CEC.
“We are not going to do the surveying now, because we have to factor in the new development- we have to discuss with the locals because they used to tell us that the boundaries between two communities are rivers, which have since changed course owing to the landslide- it’s a conversation we have to go back and discuss then we continue with the process once we agree on the nitty gritty,” he added.
First Lady Rachel Ruto third (left), condoles with Saina Krop, a survivor of the mudslides, when she visited Chesongoch in Elgeyo Marakwet County on November 08, 2025.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya I Nation Media Group
According to the county’s executive, they were supposed to issue community title deeds first in the adjudication areas, then issue individual title deeds in the near future.
“We had set aside Sh500,000 for the adjudication process in Endo ward and we have gotten help from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) through a programme dubbed land digitation, where we have so far registered more than 39 communities. Following the landslide, we will still go back to the affected communities, do a survey of their land but factor in the new development because some of the land was cut off, replaced with stones and not habitable anymore,” said Mr Maiyo.
