Lands commission moves to solve 30-year-old land dispute in Naivasha

The National Land Commission (NLC) has moved to resolve one of the longest land disputes in Naivasha pitting a group of peasant farmers and a tycoon in the area.

The commission has promised that it will issue a report regarding the 1,004 acre Ndibithi farm which has been in dispute for close to 30 years in a week’s time.

This follows rising tension in the area that saw tens of farmers take to the streets armed with crude weapons to “reclaim their land”.

According to Rift Valley Regional Surveyor Antony Munyasia, the NLC had ordered him to identify all the beacons around the land before making his report.

While visiting the troubled area, he confirmed that he had been able to locate and mark the four beacons around the land under dispute.

“The land commission had directed us to establish boundaries around this farm and we have done that and we shall issue our report by Thursday next week,” he said.

The farmers led by their leader Francis Njogu welcomed the move noting that the land had created enmity between residents for years.

Njogu said that the tycoon already owned over 16,000 acres, adding that he was keen take part of the 1,004 acres set aside for social amenities.

He blamed Agriculture Development Corporation (ADC), which allegedly sold the land to the developer, noting that the image of the government body was tainted.

“We and our parents have undergone untold suffering but we have hope that we shall finally get justice after many years,” he said.

Area MCA Mujing’a said that 200 members bought the land back in 1973 from a colonial farmer only for a dispute to emerge in 1987.

He noted that cash and intimidation had been used for years to block the farmers from getting justice but was happy that NLC had intervened.

“Our grandparents are buried on this parcel of land which they legally bought and we have all the documents and we shall not be cowed,” he said.

Jedidah Mukami, a resident of the area, narrated that they bought the farm from a white farmer and vowed that they would not bulge from the parcel of land.

Naivasha Assistant County Commissioner John Opondo who witnessed the exercise called on the residents to be peaceful as the surveyor worked on the report.

“I have noticed that nearly all of you are carrying crude weapons and this sends the wrong message in an area that has in the past seen people clash over land,” he said.