Land registry records linking a five-acre parcel near Eldoret State Lodge to the family of former President Daniel arap Moi and Willowdale Investments Limited have raised questions about the basis of the reported government claim to the property, whose occupants were recently evicted by officers from the General Service Unit (GSU).
The takeover, which began days before Eldoret hosted this year’s Mashujaa Day celebrations on Tuesday, saw private guards who had secured the property for nearly a year removed and employees’ belongings transferred from the premises.
When the Daily Nation visited the disputed property on Wednesday, belongings of the Moi family’s employees were being loaded and moved under the watch of plainclothes officers believed to be from the elite paramilitary unit.
Caretakers said they had received no formal eviction notices before officers ordered them to leave, claiming they were told that a senior government official had directed that all properties adjacent to the State Lodge be vacated immediately.
“A GSU officer came here and told us that the land belonged to the government and we were to move out immediately without causing drama,” one caretaker said.
The employees, who declined to be named or photographed for fear of their safety, said they complied with the instructions.
According to records at the Eldoret Land Registry, the parcel is registered as Eldoret Municipality/Block 8/62 and under the Moi family and Willowdale Investments Limited.
A senior land registry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the family had occupied the property since 1996 without any previous dispute involving the neighbouring State Lodge.
“The land in question has been registered under the Moi family and Willowdale Investments Limited for over three decades, and there has never been a dispute,” the official said.
We could not, however, establish whether the government has a competing legal interest in the property and whether any acquisition or repossession process had been initiated, as well as the authority supporting the removal of the occupants.
President Ruto vs Gideon Moi
“That is a State matter. As we speak now, no formal report has been made at this station in relation to the said incident,” an officer at Naiberi Police Station said.
Uasin Gishu County Commissioner Edyson Nyale confirmed that caretakers of the property had contacted him about their eviction. He said he had advised them to wait until the Mashujaa Day celebrations were over, but they had not returned for further consultations.
“I heard of the case, and I was very busy during the planning of Mashujaa Day, and since then they have not come back for further consultation,” Dr Nyale said by phone.
National Land Commission county representative Ms Wile Lineka said she could not comment on the matter under the commission’s protocols and referred the Nation to its Nairobi headquarters.
“I have heard of the matter but due to our protocols I am not in a position to comment on the same. I will refer you to our head of communication in Nairobi,” Ms Lineka said.
Lawyer Moses Mutisya, who represents the family of Gideon Moi, said the family had yet to decide on its next course of action.
He said he had been instructed to visit the property and document what had happened following reports that a senior government official had authorised the eviction.
“I was sent to the ground to document what had happened, and that is what I did. As of now, I cannot say anything in relation to the incident,” Mr Mutisya said before ending the call.
The dispute comes amid political tensions between President Ruto and Kanu chairman Gideon Moi. The rift deepened during last year’s Baringo senatorial by-election, when President Ruto prevailed upon Mr Moi to step aside in favour of the United Democratic Alliance candidate, who went on to win the seat.
However, available information does not establish a connection between the political differences and the takeover of the property. The incident also comes against the backdrop of efforts to recover public land in Eldoret.
In May 2024, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission recovered several parcels of land in the city valued at Sh3.2 billion. The parcels had initially belonged to public institutions, including the Judiciary, the Administration Police, Uasin Gishu Referral Hospital, the county fire station and the Uasin Gishu County Assembly.
The commission said the land had been grabbed by private companies owned by high-profile individuals, allegedly in collusion with corrupt land officials.
The government has previously publicly acknowledged a wider effort to recover land allocated to State Houses and State Lodges, and Eldoret has specifically been mentioned as part of that process.
Earlier this year, State House Comptroller Katoo ole Metito told Parliament's Administration and Internal Security Committee that land belonging to State Houses and State Lodges across the country had been encroached upon. He said the government was pursuing recovery efforts and that 100 acres belonging to Kakamega State Lodge had been reclaimed.
Ole Metito told the committee that the government had previously repossessed land at Eldoret State Lodge that had been occupied by a club. He also identified Eldoret among the locations affected by encroachment on State House and State Lodge land.
However, it remains unclear whether the five-acre parcel linked to the Moi family and Willowdale Investments Limited is part of the same recovery exercise
