The Kiambu government has raised the alarm over increased grabbing of public land.
Governor Ferdinand Waititu said on Tuesday that grabbers have been acquiring public and community land.
The county administration has prepared a document detailing the grabbed lands and details of the individuals behind the irregular.
The county will soon present the document to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
Waititu said his administration will work closely with the EACC and the National Land Commission (NLC) to recover the land.
The grabbers have been colluding with unscrupulous Lands ministry officials to process ownership documents, the governor said.
“Land grabbers have become a thorn in the flesh for Kiambu residents and the county government. They have illegally acquired huge tracts of land. We plead with the EACC to help us recover the parcels that have been grabbed,” Waititu said.
Grabbed lands include that of Uplands Bacon Factory and the Diatomite deposits in Ndeiya. At Diatomite, the grabbers have taken 50 acres.
“They are not sparing schools, open spaces, market places and other public utilities. We won’t sit back and watch them take what belongs to the public. We must stop them and recover the land,” Waititu said.
He wants title deeds and other land ownership documents for public spaces under the name of individuals revoked.
MCAs Andrew Kimani of Township ward and his Kamenu counterpart Raphael Chege in Thika have threatened to mobilise residents, invade and recover stolen public land.
The ward representatives said the grabbers have been working in collusion with some corrupt county officials in identifying undeveloped public spaces. Chege said some individuals have grabbed two acres of land allocated to build a public school in Kisii Estate. They are in the process of acquiring land ownership documents, he said.
“The grabbers should stand warned that we will give them no space to conduct their illegal activities on public land. We don’t care to what offices they have gone to process documents. I will mobilise residents and fence the land,” the MCA said.
Kimani said they will take legal action to recover stolen land. He said the grabbers are well known. A famous individual has grabbed and fenced off parcel within Thika town, he said. “We know who fenced that land with intent to grab it. We will storm the area and bring down the fence because we must protect what rightfully belong to the public,” Kimani said.
Last year, Thika town residents thwarted attempts to grab land in Section 9 Estate.
Heshima Primary School pupils in Kiboko Estate protested after unidentified individuals erected beacons on their school land. They beacons were removed later.