Planned compensation for the Kenol-Marua dual carriageway has escalated a protracted land tussle between villagers and the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in the county.
Residents claim the church grabbed 17 acres of community land for which it is now seeking compensation, and want the National Land Commission (NLC),Parliament and the Kenya National highways Authority (KeNHA) to intervene.
The petition came after the villagers learnt that the church has been listed among those to be compensated.
Last year the villagers sued the church in a case where two sets of green cards were produced in an Environment and Land Court sitting in Karatina, indicating double ownership of the disputed land.
The plaintiffs claim in suit parers that the church had fraudulently acquired the community land. The villagers contend that the piece of land known as Kianyakura in Kirimukuyu ward, Mathira West sub-county, was set aside by the community in 1959 and was earmarked for a school.
“The plaintiffs contend that registration of land parcel Kirimukuyu/kiria/792 in the names of the Presbyterian Foundation was fraudulent and illegal as at time of such registration the owners were not consulted and no public participation was done as stipulated in the constitution”, the plaint states in part.
However, the church, through their lawyer Mr Wahome Gikonyo, has denied the claim and have produced documents to support their claim of ownership.
A copy of the title deed seen by Nation indicates it is registered under the name: The Presbyterian Trust Foundation. It was issued in 2014.
Also sued alongside the church are Ms Lydiah Ngahu, session clerk and Rev J. M. Mbae, parish minister, both of Tumutumu West Parish, the county government of Nyeri and county’s land registrar.
The residents want the registration of the land in the church’s name be declared null, void, illegal and fraudulent and that the title deed be cancelled and reverted to the community.
Last month, the same church lost another case when Justice James Olola of the Environment and Land Court in Nyeri nullified an allotment letter for a 0.25 acre piece of land in Ruring’u area
In the latest development, the villagers want the proposed compensation to be halted even as the ownership of the land is contested.
The petition by the villagers states in part: “ We pray that the proposed award by the National Land Commission to the Presbyterian Church Foundation be stopped forthwith pending the substantive determination of the ownership of the land.”
According to a list released by the Nation Land Commission through a gazette notice, the Presbyterian Foundation is listed as number 693 out of some 955 individuals and institutions to be compensated for the Nyeri section of the dual carriage.
