Governor Waititu leads Thika residents to ‘reclaim’ land

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Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu yesterday led residents in recovering more than 100 acres of grabbed land in Thika.

Using bulldozers and crowbars, they pulled down perimeter walls in Masai and Kiang’ombe villages.

Residents had earlier told the governor the land was part of 360 acres meant for resettling of squatters, build schools and other public utilities.

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This comes barely a month after Lands Chief Administrative Secretary Gideon Mung’aro met residents who had reported the matter to his office.

“The ministry is particularly concerned by the many cases of theft of public land reported in Thika, Ruiru and neighbouring areas. We are telling those behind these schemes that it is only a matter of time before we catch up with them,” Mung’aro had said.

Residents had told the CAS of a cartel that was working in cahoots with some government officers to grab land set aside for public use.

And yesterday, Waititu, who supervised the demolition, said the land will be reverted for the intended purpose.  “We shall not allow individuals to steal public land,” he said but declined to field questions from journalists.

The residents welcomed the governor’s intervention and asked the government to help secure the land to put up social amenities.

“This will enable us to build schools, health centres and other social amenities,” said a squatter, Margaret Wangari.

Masai village chairman Ibrahim Woche said he had written to the National Land Commission (NLC) concerning development activities on the land.

He added that the cartel, being used by the land grabbers, was using an outlawed gang to demolish their houses claiming the land had been bought from the government.

“We have been living in agony as local government officials, including the security and administration, turn a deaf ear on us,” said Woche.

Mung’aro had said government officers found to have been involved in irregular land deals will be suspended and legal action taken against them.

Last month, the ministry transferred more than 600 officers in lands registries in the wake of a probe into their role in the theft of public land.

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