Ngati Farmers Land Row

In a letter addressed to the Principal Secretary in charge of Energy Eng. Joseph Njoroge, the members said the company had fraudulently acquired their huge chunk of land whose reference number is 8398/2 and had been set aside for settlement of members.

The letter signed by around five hundred members said the company did not follow the right procedure to acquire the land which it intends to use for Geothermal development, adding that the directors purported to have sold the land have been in office for the last 21 years and no elections or annual general meeting has been held since then.

A row is also brewing over the running and management of a multi-million 16,000 acre piece of land located in Naivasha Constituency.

The members said that the board of directors were in the office illegally and therefore had no legal authority whatsoever to transact any business on behalf of the society including selling the parcel of land to KenGen or any other public body.

Through their spokesman Chege wa Kariuki, the members gave the government 14 days to intervene and address their problems failure to which they will organize demonstrations and repossess their land by force.

Interim officials who also signed the letter were Ngugi Njoroge (Chairman), Kinyanjui Wainaina Njau (Vice Chairman), Jeremiah Njoka Muchiri, Joseph Chege Kariuki and Hannah Wambui.

The shareholders have since filed an objection and written a letter to the National Land Commission (NLC) demanding the immediate halt to all land transactions and also called for a general audit on all financial deals regarding the farm.

In a press conference on Saturday morning held in Kinangop, the members accused the company’s nine directors of carrying failing to call for an Annual General meeting (AGM) that they have halted for the last six years and that they have used this opportunity to carry out illegal deals at their expense.

Chege Kariuki demanded that all the 581 members be called for an AGM within 14 days so that a comprehensive report regarding the controversial farm can be presented to the members.

He said the directors must explain how the money from the sale of the land was spent and who the beneficiaries were.

Chege noted that any further transaction must be halted until members hold an AGM adding that demarcations that have been going on in the farm was also being face with unfairness.

Chege blamed the cooperatives docket for failing to pressure the directors who have been in office for 21 years to call an annual general meeting according to the law.
John Maina, a member and a former official at the Cooperative also echoed the sentiments saying members have never been informed of any transaction of the land.

He observed that members have always called for an AGM but despite receiving a go ahead nod from the Cooperative department, the directors collude with the providential administration to call off the meetings citing threat.

Maina wondered what interest they interest had over the land adding that time has come for the members to be told the truth.

Another member Zipporah Wacheke Njenga, accused the directors of giving out the land to some of their relatives.

Efforts to get comments from the director were fruitless as their cell phones went un-answered.

By Maureen Murimi