Mau Forest: Title deeds for 1,000 acres surrendered

Fifteen owners of over 1,000 acres in Mau Forest have surrendered their title deeds, Narok County Commissioner George Natembeya said on Tuesday.

Mr. Natembeya, however, noted that after scrutiny, most of the surrendered title deeds were found to be fake.

With the first phase of the Mau evictions done and dusted, the government is now targeting 1,029 individuals who either sold or transferred land in the Mau Forest.

Some of the targeted individuals have in their possession titles deeds which cannot be verified, letters of allotment, sale agreements and some have no documents at all.

According to documents by Water Towers Authority seen by Citizen TV, some of the huge parcels of land were given out as gifts.

These suspect transactions are said to have been carried out by some individuals in the five group ranches and the now defunct Narok County Council.

A legal taskforce of 2011 indicated that all the title deeds to the encroached pieces of land were unlawfully acquaired.

Although the government will be focusing on the 1,029 individuals, Mau Forest occupancy has ballooned over the years to over 12,000 occupants.