Governors Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos) and Mutula Kilonzo Jr (Makueni).
A boundary dispute between Machakos and Makueni counties that has been simmering for the past 32 years has boiled over, with Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr now blaming his Machakos counterpart Wavinya Ndeti for standing in the way of a fresh move by the national government to place the upcoming Konza Technocity in Makueni County.
“We are the only ones who do not run amok when Taita Taveta claim our Mtito Andei town, Kajiado deny us water, Machakos keeps our lands records and throws tantrums when the documents are moved to us,” Mr Kilonzo Jr said in a statement on Sunday.
He was responding to Ms Ndeti, who had mounted a spirited campaign to stop Makueni from claiming the smart city.
Trouble began last week after a memo from the Ministry of Lands was leaked on Thursday.
The December 19 memo, seen by the Nation, ordered the transfer of land records for the disputed areas within the border between Machakos and Makueni counties in the Konza area.
“As a result, our Cabinet Secretary has taken notice of this matter and instructed that all of the said records are moved to the Wote Registry latest by Monday, December 30. Additionally, the Land Management Coordinator for Makueni is directed to acknowledge receipt of the aforementioned records and forward a copy to this office,” reads part of the memo signed by Mohammed Maalim, the secretary in charge of administration.
Ms Ndeti vowed to stop the planned transfers, saying the move was the latest in a series of activities she described as a ploy by President William Ruto's administration and Mr Kilonzo Jr to carve out a chunk of Machakos County.
The said activities, according to Ms Ndeti's administration, include the gazetting of Konza ICT/Mti Moja sub-location, a new administrative unit in the disputed region, in February.
Machakos County raised eyebrows when then Cabinet Secretary for Internal Affairs Kithure Kindiki placed the new administrative unit, which is home to the upcoming Konza Technocity, in Makueni County.
“The action by CS Kindiki appears to order Machakos Town MP, Machakos Governor, the CS for Lands, the CS for Education among others to restructure provision of public goods and services in line with his directives, powers he is not assigned by the 2010 Constitution or any other known statute,” said Machakos Lands and Urban Development Executive Nathaniel Nganga in an April 19th letter to Machakos County Commissioner Josephine Ouko questioning Prof Kindiki’s decision to wade into the boundary dispute.
“Machakos will not cede a single inch of its territory to anyone. The County Government of Machakos will pursue this matter to its logical conclusion through all available means, including inviting the relevant national government agencies and pursuing a legal recourse,” Ms Ndeti said on Friday.
In a copy of a December 27 letter to Ms Ndeti, seen by the Nation, Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome urged the Machakos County boss to engage Mr Kilonzo Jr with a view of resolving the outstanding boundary dispute.
“You will agree with me that it is not prudent to halt our work until the disputes are resolved,” Ms Wahome said after rejecting an application by Ms Ndeti to stop the planned transfer of land records.
The transfer of the land records is expected to mark a major milestone in resolving the boundary dispute, which started in 1992 when the government carved out Makueni District from Machakos District.
It is not disputed that Kalama, which is the centre of the current boundary dispute, fell squarely within Makueni District at the time.
“Kalama continued to operate in Makueni District both administratively and politically until 1997 when its residents petitioned the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) for a boundary review. They wanted to be under Machakos District. ECK yielded to their petition and returned Kalama back to Machakos District. In the 2010 Constitution, the county boundaries were to be as per the 1992 Districts and Provinces Act subject to public participation, public petitions and submissions if any by the residents. During this exercise, Kalama residents unequivocally chose Machakos County,” Mr Nganga told reporters on Friday.
He was flanked by Machakos County Secretary Muya Ndambuki and Kalama Ward Representative Boniface Maeke, among others, who threatened to lead Machakos residents in demonstrations to stop the planned transfer of land records.
Although both Machakos and Makueni counties claim to provide services in the disputed region, communities involved in the boundary dispute often complain of being side-lined by the government in terms of development.
“Our neighbours jokingly liken us to hippopotamuses. They say we eat from both sides of a river. We enjoy the best of both counties. The truth is that we go for certain services in Machakos and others in Makueni. That said, we are not ready to travel 60 kilometres to Wote Town to process our land documents when we currently travel barely 2 kilometres to do the same in Machakos Town,” said Mzee Joseph Kitaka, a farmer from Kasalama Village.
Aware of the boundary dispute, President Ruto said the tussling over the location of Konza Technocity was misplaced.
“This is a facility not only for Kenya but also the continent. You can see investors from across the globe are here. The second phase of the project will be funded by friends from Italy. This is an international facility. This is a facility which brings citizens together, the region together and the globe together,” he said at Konza Technocity when he launched a digital pan-African business hub three weeks ago.
