3 seized as cartels stymie Chepchoina squatter resettlement plans
Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jecinta Wesonga having a word with County Commissioner Samson Ojwang on Madaraka Day at Kitale ASK Grounds. Mr Ojwang warned land cartels frustrating government efforts to resettle squatters at Chepchoina scheme.
What you need to know:
- The resettlement has been a thorny issue since 1994, when the government allocated parcels of Agricultural Development Cooperation (ADC) farms to landless members of the Luhya, Turkana and Pokot communities.
- During a tour of the region in March 2021, former Rift Valley Commissioner George Natembeya said the government had lost 1,700 acres of the ADC land in the settlement scheme.
Trans Nzoia County Commissioner Samson Ojwang has warned land cartels frustrating government efforts to resettle squatters at Chepchoina scheme.
The warning followed the arrest of three people, including a former Kenya Defense Forces senior officer, for deceiving residents on land allocation.
Mr Ojwang said a network of cartels is working with rogue officers in the lands registry to undermine the resettlement process.
"I am happy to report that three people who are part of cartels that have been derailing the resettlement process by issuing fake letters to innocent Kenyans are already in custody and are helping in investigations," Mr Ojwang said in Kitale.
The commissioner also put on notice the National Land Commission (NLC), saying it was colluding with cartels to frustrate the process.
He also claimed a government administrator in Kisawai was also part of the cartels by helping them acquire fake allotment letters.
"We are aware that even the local administrator is part of the group [misleading] residents about the settlement. It is so unfortunate for a government officer who is supposed to give directions to collude with criminals," he said.
The resettlement has been a thorny issue since 1994, when the government allocated parcels of Agricultural Development Cooperation (ADC) farms to landless members of the Luhya, Turkana and Pokot communities. The matter often escalated during the planting season when cartels issued fake allotment letters.
During a tour of the region in March 2021, former Rift Valley Commissioner George Natembeya said the government had lost 1,700 acres of the ADC land in the settlement scheme.
Some 15,000 acres of the 17, 000-acre farm was allocated to squatters, but the resettlement was marred by corruption, fuelling perennial land rows.
The settlers, who claim to be former employees on the land, allege that Trans Nzoia County officials had ordered police to evict them from the farm that they have lived on for over 22 years since President Daniel Moi gave it to them between 1994 and 1997.
Some of the squatters told the Nation that unknown people had told residents to register their names and be allocated parcels of land.
"The condition was that you pay between Sh500 and Sh1,000 for your name to be registered and be given land," said Mr Joram Naibei.
Another squatter, 76-year-old Micah Wafula, called on the government to address the issue urgently. He said he is illiterate and fears that some corrupt officers intend to deceive him and take away his land.
In 2014, politicians were banned from holding meetings on the land after one person was killed and several others were injured when armed intruders prevented settlers from preparing their land for planting.
A list tabled in Parliament in 2009 showed that politicians, top civil servants, parastatal chiefs and security personnel were among people allocated ADC land on eight farms – Chepchoina, Nyota, Tall Trees, Sirikwa, Ol’ Jorrai, Moi Ndabi, Jabali and Zea – the former Rift Valley province.
In 2013, the National Assembly’s Land Committee toured the Chepchoina land on a fact-finding mission.
