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Cheluget family accepts Ruto offer to buy 5,800-acre Narok land, dismisses internal divisions
Part of the 5,800-acre land owned by former Nyanza Provincial Commissioner Isaiah Kiplangat Cheluget (inset) in Narok South in this photo taken on June 26, 2024. The land is being claimed by 600 people.
What you need to know:
- The ownership of former Nyanza Provincial Commissioner’s property has been at the heart of a tussle between the government and his family.
- Dr Ruto’s announcement that the government was in talks with the Chelugets adds a new twist to the long drawn legal battle for the property.
A section of the family of former Provincial Commissioner Isaiah Cheluget, who died seven years ago, has urged the public to ignore anyone claiming to speak for the family, even as they confirm ongoing talks with the government over the 5,800-acre parcel of land in Narok South.
This comes amid a family split over who the rightful administrators of the land are, following President William Ruto’s claim.
“We have summoned Cheluget and we have had a conversation with him on the purchase of the property by the government to settle those claiming it,” President Ruto said these on Wednesday while in Sogoo Narok South.
Addressing journalists in Nairobi on Saturday, Ambassador Nancy Kirui, flanked by individuals she introduced as administrators and family of Mr Cheluget, said they were in agreement with the government over the sale of the now contested expansive parcel of land.
“Just as the President stated, we are in engagement with the government on this matter and we’ve already made an offer to sell the land to the government to settle the squatters,” Ms Kirui said, a one-time Kenya’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and later Principal Secretary for Defence and Foreign Affairs.
The ownership of former Nyanza Provincial Commissioner’s property has been at the heart of a tussle between the government and his family — and now, the dispute takes a new twist.
Dr Ruto’s announcement that the government was in talks with the Chelugets to purchase the land and settle the 13,500 Mau evictees, along with those claiming part of the property owned by the former administrator, adds a new twist to the long drawn legal battle for the property.
But in his speech, the President made a curious statement on the matter saying he had summoned Mr Cheluget (deceased), sat down and discussed the matter with him with a view to purchasing the vast land.
Mzee Cheluget died on June 26, 2017 at Aga Khan Hospital, Kisumu after a short illness and was buried at his home in Litein, Bureti constituency of Kericho County, before he could repossess the highly agriculturally productive land.
“Interestingly, our father, the late Isaiah Kiplangat Cheluget, had on several occasions reached out to the government, looking for a peaceful and amicable solution. Sadly, he passed on before its actualisation,” explained Ambassador Kirui.
For 15 years now, the family has been fighting a string of lawsuits – which it has repeatedly won – from the High Court to the Court of Appeal – against the initial 600 settlers that illegally settled on the land.
The family has, despite winning the law suits in the corridors of justice, not been able to reclaim the land due to hostility by the occupants.
“We, the family, are pleased and extremely grateful to the president and Narok Governor for their determination and resolve to find a meaningful solution,” she added.
However, on Friday Moses Cheluget, the former PC’s son claimed that “as a family they did not know whoever was speaking to the president” because the succession of the land is still awaiting determination.
