- Unused land should be shared by Kiambu county government and Kandara Residents Association
- Group presented a petition on Wednesday to the Kiambu county assembly committee on planning
The Kiambu government has been accused of ignoring a directive by the National Land Commission to re-survey and determine public land occupied by fruit juice processor Del Monte.
The commission gave the orders last year to determine unused land by the Thika-based company.
Upon re-surveying, surplus land shall be shared by Kiambu county government and the Kandara Residents Association headed by Philip Kamau, a former Kiambu town clerk.
According to the directive, the association will take 70 per cent while 30 per cent will go to the county government for public use.
The American company sits on more than 22,000 acres stretching between Kiambu and Muranga counties but with numerous title deeds.
The association's Kiambu chapter presented a petition on Wednesday to the Kiambu county assembly committee on planning and urbanization headed by Elijah Njoroge.
It accused Del Monte of occupying large chunks of land illegally.
Chairman Kamau claimed the company had not used 7,500 acres from the time they occupied prime land, 2,100 acres of which are in Kiambu county.
The NLC recommended that if the surplus land will not be enough to resettle the more than 5,000 survivors of historical injustices, then the lease should not be renewed.
Parliament had on November 19 last year directed the NLC and the Director of Survey to re-survey the Del Monte land.
Claimants of the land who live in slums such as Madharau, Gatuanyaga, Umoja settlement and Gachagini allege the land was forcibly taken from them. Women were raped and scores of men murdered and their houses torched.
Kandara Residents Association told the committee that LR11312 measuring 1,606 acres is government land originally owned by Chui Ltd, which was dissolved in 1979 and the land surrendered to the government.
The chairman said the county had failed to heed both the National Assembly and NLC because of a leadership crisis in Kiambu county that culminated the removal of former Governor Ferdinand Waititu.
Kiambu assembly planning committee chairman Njoroge assured the petitioners the county government under Governor James Nyoro will take up the matter and deal with it conclusively.
"The committee will expedite the matter and shall invite all stakeholders to get to the bottom of the same. We have the support of the governor and all will soon be well," he said.
The contested land was first given to Agro-French by the first President of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta to grow sisal before it was later taken over by Kenya Canners who specialised in canning pineapples.
Del Monte later took over and started production and canning of fruit products and is a major employer.
There is a scramble for the land owing to the fact that part of the 99-year lease has expired while the other will expire in 2022.
Before he was hounded out of office, Waititu had controversially renewed the company's lease after it surrendered 600 acres to the county.
Edited by Henry Makori