The Embu council of elders Nyangi Ndiiriri has hit out at Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka for allegedly meddling in the decades-long disputed Mwea Settlement Scheme.
The elders slammed Musyoka for visiting the scheme on April 18 without consulting them and calling on the Senate and National Assembly to establish a commission of enquiry into the failed distribution of land.
Chairman Andrew Ireri said Kalonzo visited the area incognito to achieve his 2022 political interests. The visit has ruined efforts to distribute the scheme in future, he said.
The council of elders blamed politicians for contributing to failure of the government to effectively distribute the land for many decades by politicising the issue.
Speaking at Kairuri stadium in Embu North, the elders said politicians have for many years exploited the Mwea Settlement Scheme to enrich themselves by grabbing the land while seeking votes from residents.
Ireri said politicians have impoverished squatters who for many years have never got title deeds.
The elders said politicians have over the years sought support of the people promising they would facilitate effective distribution of land but all in vain.
Ireri called on the government to lock out all politicians from the area and hasten fresh distribution of the land.
The last time there were attempts to redistribute the land was in 2016 when the county government in conjunction with the National Land Commission divided it into 1,732 parcels but the exercise stalled.
“In other parts of the country, community land has been distributed smoothly but the Mwea Settlement Scheme has remained untouched because it has over the years been converted into a political battlefield,” Ireri said.
He called on the government to nullify division of the scheme into the 1,732 parcels and distribute it afresh. All persons living there should be given first priority, he said.
Ireri further urged the government to repossess thousands of acres grabbed by politicians, civil servants and the rich to be allocated to the landless.
Since 1968 when the first abortive distribution of the land took place to date, the government has used over Sh66 million on the exercises, Ireri said.
He lashed out at former minister Joe Nyagah for recently calling for the involvement of the Kirinyaga and Embu county governments in distribution of the scheme.
Ireri asked Nyagah to stop commenting on the scheme since he was unable to resolve the dispute when he was Lands minister.
Ireri called for compensation of persons who were injured during confrontations between beneficiaries of the most recent controversial distribution and the squatters. One person was killed by police and eight others were injured.
