A family in Nyeri has put the government on notice over a 134-acre farm that has been used by the Ministry of Agriculture for the past 50 years.
The family of Wambugu Mathangani this week threatened to eject government personnel from the prime land if the money for the farm’s purchase was not paid by the end of the month.
The land, commonly known as Wambugu Farm is in the outskirts of Nyeri town.
It houses the Mt Kenya region demonstration farms for the ministry of Agriculture, the region’s meteorological station and ministry of Energy’s department of renewable energy.
Others who operate from the farm which is situated five kilometres from Nyeri town on the Nyeri-Nairobi highway are the Dairy Goat Association Kenya headquarters, the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute and the Kenya Forestry Research Institute.
The government on Wednesday held a crisis meeting to resolve the dispute following a protest letter written by the family last week. The members threatened to invade the land, eject the government and sub-divide it amongst themselves.
Government officials tried in vain to convince the Mathangani family from repossessing the land. Explanations by Nyeri South DO1 Thomas Sakwa that the Sh145 million cheque will be ready before September did not yield any fruit.
“If the government is evicting people from Mau forest because the land belongs to it, why should we not evict the government if nothing is forth coming,” said family spokesman Wanyaga Gathaka.
Apart from the Sh145 million which is value for the piece of land, the family wants more than Sh40 million for the buildings and another Sh10 million, being lease arrears since 2006 when the land reverted to the family.
In 1956, Mr Mathangani donated about 200 acres of his over 3,500 acres of land to the local authority of Nyeri as a demonstration farm for the region.
Mathangani who died in 1959 at 95 years was then a paramount chief in charge of Mukaro location, which currently forms most of Nyeri Town constituency.
An agreement signed between the former colonial chief and the council indicated that the land would be surrendered back to the family upon the expiry of 50 years.
The agreement further stated that all the developments in the land would also be reverted to the family.
When the lease expired in 2006, the government approached the family with intentions to buy the land. It committed to buy 134 acres and gave back the rest which had not been developed to the family.
The piece of land was shared equally among the late Mathangani’s 34 children who are also laying claim to the other piece of land. According to the family, an independent valuer estimated the land would cost about Sh420 million.
However, the government invoked the law on compulsory acquisition where it settled for Sh145 million.
Under the law, the government can take possession of any private land on its own conditions without following the willing-buyer willing seller syndrome.
Since then, the family has been waiting for the compensation in vain.
