• Muruka residents said the land had been built on dispensary's land.
• They said the private developer, a retired teacher rushed to court when he was informed that he was building on the health facility's land.
Residents of Muruka area in Kandara subcounty, Murang'a county, on Friday demolished a house built on Muruka dispensary land.
The residents brought down the unfinished five-roomed commercial building said to have been constructed by a retired teacher.
The residents said the private developer acquired the land from the defunct Murang’a County Council.
They said building was stalled and the teacher rushed to court when he was informed that the land he had acquired belonged to the health facility.
He however lost the case as the court ruled in favour of the community.
He then filed an appeal that is ongoing.
The residents grew impatient and pulled down the building.
Former Muruka dispensary chairman Paul Gaithuma said they realised the land had been grabbed when they started fencing the facility’s land.
“It is then that we found out that the rental building was in our property,” he said.
The fencing project was immediately stopped when the private developer went to court.
The dispensary also accommodates Muruka Administration police camp.
The former chairman said the private development erred by failing to conduct a land search that would have shown that the land was under the dispensary.
He added that area MP Alice Wahome at one point intervened seeking to have the private developer relocated to another parcel of land which he declined.
Chief Executive Committee member in charge of Health Joseph Mbai said he supported the residents’ actions as the man had refused to leave the premise.
Mbai noted that that many health facilities in the county suffered similar challenges after huge chunks of their land fell into the hands of members of the public through unscrupulous means.
He cited the example of Makuyu health centre where over 2 acres have been grabbed and Murang’a Level 5 Hospital which has also had its land grabbed.
He urged all grabbers to revert the land back to the county government, vowing to take action to ensure public land is not privately owned.
“After the demolition, Muruka dispensary will now have enough land to have a maternity ward constructed,” Mbai noted.
He pointed out that previously, women had to go Kandara Subcounty Hospital which is a bit far to deliver.
“I am issuing a warning that anyone grabbing land that belongs to health facilities will face off with me,” Mbai said, adding that he has received calls by locals to help in reclaiming grabbed land that hinder expansion in health facilities.