Taveta MP John Bwire being sought over invasion of Ruto ally Basil Criticos property
Some of the poles that were demolished by locals in Mokine area of Taita Taveta County on June 19, 2023 following a dispute over 100 acres piece of land allegedly belonging to former Taveta Mp Basil Criticos. The area MP is said to have gone into hiding after six people were arrested following the invasion.
Police in Taveta are looking for area Member of Parliament John Bwire and other local leaders after the destruction of an electric fence under construction on a 100-acre piece of land in Mokine, Taveta sub-county.
Six people were arrested after they brought down the fence and burnt poles on the land belonging to former Taveta MP Basil Criticos in Mokine next to land belonging to President William Ruto.
Taveta sub-county Police Commander Ibrahim Muchuma said the leaders have gone into hiding after the Saturday and Tuesday destruction of the fence on the land, a part of which they claim to own.
“We have arrested six people and we are looking for several leaders behind the property destruction but we hope to arrest them soon and present them to court. It is illegal to destroy private property instead of using dialogue in resolving the issues around land,” said the police commander.
Mr Muchuma said tens of locals protested on Tuesday, pulling down the fence that was being erected before burning some of the poles.
On Tuesday afternoon, locals led by Mr Bwire invaded Mr Criticos’ land and chased away workers putting up the fence claiming the land belonged to the people.
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Mr Bwire said he led the residents to claim the land after Mr Criticos fenced it, including more than 33 houses.
“The locals protested their evictions since there was no court order to evict them. There must be a procedure to move the locals in the land and we do not want the businessman to use names of senior government officials to frustrate locals,” said Mr Bwire.
The Tuesday invasion came after Saturday's incident, where residents brought down a section of the electric fence and burnt it before police intervened to avert more destruction.
On Tuesday morning, Mr Bwire was summoned by the Taveta Directorate of Criminal Investigations, where he recorded a statement, but that did not stop him from leading residents back to Mr Criticos's land.
“I was asked to record a statement by DCI, and I cannot defy that, but my rule is we are not going to court on the land which we know is part of local land. We shall continue blocking the setting up of the fence until Mr Criticos accepts to give us a section of the land, and this will happen not only in Mokine, but even in Machungwani, we shall oppose fencing of the land,” said the MP.
In a phone interview with Mr Criticos, he denied selling the land to a senior government official and said he was only fencing it because he legally owned it. Mr Criticos said all squatters were allocated land, and they had to move to allow him to farm.
“The rumours going round that I am selling the land to a senior government official is untrue since I have the title but what I want is to put the land into use,” said the former MP.
The Mokine land, which is next to 2,500 acres belonging to President Ruto, has been contentious for years, and now the community around it says it will not allow any more land to be sold to non-locals until all squatters are settled.
In 2017, the former Taveta MP sold 2,536 acres of land to Dr Ruto. He said he was financed by the Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC), a parastatal under the Agriculture ministry, to buy the land.
Mr Criticos has condemned the invasion of his land.
