Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has directed the ministries of Lands and Environment to expedite the de-gazettement of 174.4 hectares of Kakamega Forest for the resettlement of at least 300 families.
The families were evicted from their ancestral land in Mbale in 1985 to make way for the establishment of the Vihiga District headquarters in Mbale — now Vihiga County.
Others were moved from Vokoli and Mululu to pave way for the establishment of Moi Girls Vokoli, Wandega Secondary and Mululu Primary schools and are currently living in the Shaviringa Settlement Scheme, which is part of the gazetted land under the Kenya Forest Service (KFS).
Mr Mudavadi noted that resettlement and compensation had been delayed for more than 38 years and said intervention was needed at a time when the families were threatening to reclaim their ancestral land.
In 1985, then-President Daniel Moi ordered the forest land to be cleared to enable compensation to be paid to the families, but this was not done.
The order was repeated by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2014 during the 25th commemoration of Moses Substone Budamba Mudavadi, but not much was done, with officials citing budgetary constraints.
The survey and degazettement to pave way for land demarcation, allocation and titling started in 2015 but soon stalled after the National Treasury released only Sh3 million out of the Sh10 million budgeted for the exercise.
The families, through their spokesperson Fredrick Igunza had, in March, threatened to return to their ancestral land to evict government officials.
Their ancestral land in Mbale is home to the governor's office, the county commissioner's office, the Huduma Centre, the prison, the county referral hospital, Mbale Rural Hospital, the police headquarters, a car park, government offices and a market.
Mr Mudavadi has asked the two ministries to pay close attention to the process following a petition sent to his office by the families.
The land in Mbale is 30 acres, while the settlement they live on is 40 acres. Mr Mudavadi's directive to clear 174.4 acres of forest land could spark protests from conservationists.
To add weight to the matter, Mr Mudavadi has written to Lands Cabinet Secretary Zacharia Mwangi and his Environment counterpart Soipan Tuya with copies to Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo, and principal secretaries Nixon Korir (Lands) and Ephantus Kimani (Environment).
Mr Mudavadi wants the ministries to act on the application to demarcate 138.4 hectares of the Ishiru Resettlement Scheme and 36 hectares of the Shaviringa Resettlement Scheme.
The schemes are part of the vast Kakamega Forest and Mr Mudavadi wants them de-gazetted to facilitate resettlement and completion of compulsory acquisition.
"It is important to note that vital government institutions have been built on the affected people's land, but the title deeds are still in the hands of the original owners. It is therefore important that the legal process of land compensation is completed to avert the risk of government assets being developed on private land," said Mr Mudavadi.
He urged the two ministries to engage various state actors to expedite the process, while ensuring that the original owners are compensated "so that justice is done to the individuals and families who ceded their ancestral lands to the government".
In April this year, at the height of the families' threats to reclaim their ancestral land, the Senate launched an investigation into the inordinate delay in the demarcation of the 40-hectare Musunji-Shaviringa settlement.
Mr Igunza told the Senate that when they were evicted from their ancestral land in 1985, they were promised double the size of their plots, but complained that the failure to compensate them had caused them agony.
Shaviringa is about 24km from Mbale, and the Senate Committee on Lands has been asked to investigate the delay in surveying, demarcating the scheme and issuing title deeds to the families, despite several assurances from the government and a presidential directive.
The matter was tabled in the Senate by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi to ascertain the status of degazettement of the settlement scheme.
Mr Osotsi said the Senate had initiated an investigation into the status of the government's written assurances to Parliament that it was committed to resolving the long-standing dispute.
The Lands Committee will seek to inform Parliament of the status of the boundary survey by KFS, which technically owns the settlement in question.
The committee will also seek to know the amount budgeted for the survey and the status of the Environmental Impact Assessment report conducted by the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
The Senate inquiry will also seek to establish the status of the ongoing fencing of Kakamega Forest and the fence line to determine whether the scheme is within the fence line or outside the area to be fenced.
Last year, the Ministry of Lands wrote to Parliament assuring that the process would be expedited, but no action has yet been taken.
The families had earlier petitioned the national and county administrations to vacate their ancestral land in Mbale town so that they can reclaim it after more than three decades of failed compensation.
Mr Igunza said the families were disturbed that 38 years after they were evicted from their ancestral land to make way for government development, they were yet to receive the adequate compensation they were promised.
"It is now 38 years and we have not been given title deeds to the land we were relocated to. As a result, we continue to live like squatters without access to social amenities," said Mr Igunza.
