A lobby group claiming part of Del Monte land has criticised a recent visit to the firm in Thika by a section of MPs from Kiambu and Murang'a counties.
The lobby, known as Kandara Residents Association, is part of the land lease renewal impasse pitting the firm against the two counties. The association represents 5,000 squatters.
The group claimed that last Monday's visit to Del Monte Kenya Ltd in Thika by MPs Patrick Wainaina (Thika), Simon King’ara (Ruiru), Jude Njomo (Kiambu) and Joseph Nduati (Gatanga) was to seek mileage ahead of 2022 general elections.
The legislators held talks with the firm’s managing director Stergios Gkaliamoutsas over the company’s land resurveying and lease renewal.
The MPs petitioned the government to expedite resurveying of the land and the renewal of the lease, claiming that thousands of jobs were at stake. They pointed out that failure to renew the lease would have adverse effects on the country’s economy.
The company applied for renewal of its land lease in 2012. It cultivates pineapples on its 22,000 acres that straddle Kiambu and Murang’a counties. The firm’s land lease will expire in 2022.
But Kandara Residents Association patron Phillip Kamau told the Star on Sunday that the politicians watched from the sidelines as the firm meted out historical injustices on residents of Murang’a and Kiambu counties.
He said the legislators overlooked the plight of the thousands of residents whose rights were violated by the company for decades and who were kicked out of their land illegally.
“We [Kandara Residents Association] have been seeking justice for the atrocities that the firm committed against our people. All along, these politicians have been quiet. They should leave the Del Monte land issue because it’s a constitutionally determined matter,” he said.
Kamau said that in their meetings, they failed to even mention the association, which is a key stakeholder in the land.
"President Uhuru Kenyatta has agreed that dialogue will play a key part in solving the matter. His sentiments have been echoed by US Ambassador Kyle McCarter. We are asking, who are these MPs talking on behalf of?”
Kamau also urged the National Land Commission (NLC) to implement the orders it gave last year to resurvey the Del Monte land.
NLC in Gazetted Notice No.2 dated March 1, 2019, indicated that 70 per cent of any excess land ceded by Del Monte should be given to members of the community and 30 per cent to the respective county governments.
In November last year, the National Assembly Lands Committee led by chairperson Rachael Nyamai (Kitui South MP) told the Lands ministry, through the NLC, to resurvey the land held by Del Monte in Murang’a and Kiambu.
The committee recommended that the Director of Survey, Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning resurvey the land and give a report within three months. But the land is yet to be resurveyed nine months down the line.
The team also ordered NLC to investigate the circumstances under which the company allegedly acquired four parcels of land- LR Nos 10862, 10741, 11312 and 11146-measuring 7,400 acres.
The four parcels are said to have been surrendered to the government after dissolution of two companies trading as Sassa Coffee and Rappit B Limited, that reportedly owned them.
Edited by A.N
