Matiangi faces lawsuit over land saga in Mwea

Over 7,000 beneficiaries have now moved to court seeking orders to quash a directive by Interior CS Fred Matiang’i  in the ongoing Mwea land saga.

They insist that they were issued with title deeds and accuse Mr. Matiang’i of acting in bad faith. They are urging him to instead focus on providing security to them so that they can start developing their land.

According to them, it is wrong for the CS and other leaders to mislead the country into thinking that Mwea Settlement Scheme never materialised.

Mbeere Council of Elders chair Eston Nthiga urged those aggrieved to seek court redress instead of creating tension in the area. He alleged that those behind chaos witnessed last week were people brought from Machakos by their relatives to claim land under false pretenses.

However, one of the aggrieved, Mr. Alfred Ngiri, dismissed the allegations saying those caught up in the chaos are the rightful owners and will protect their land at all costs. He further dismissed the suggestion by the council of elders to seek redress in court saying it will slow down progress as court cases are “never-ending”.

He demanded that the CS stop issuing directives that according to him undermine a process already bound by the Constitution.

The council of elders chairman echoed Mr. Ngiri’s sentiments saying it was wrong for the CS to interfere with a process which was carried out by the National Land Commission alongside Embu County Government where all stakeholders were involved.

Mr. Nthiga noted that the land was subdivided after all the beneficiaries from four ethnic groups agreed to withdraw all cases concerning the land and the beneficiaries were identified in a transparent manner.

This he said was after elders from Mbeere, Embu, Kirinyaga and Kamba came to an agreement to withdraw several court cases and later had consent where Mbeere people were to get 40 percent of the 44,000 acres of land, Embu 30 percent, Kamba community 20percent and Kirinyaga side 10 percent.

The chairman maintained that they would not relent until they get their rightful share of the land but in a peaceful manner.