Schools in Thika constituency are set to be issued with land titles to keep grabbers at bay.
MP Patrick Wainaina said 50 per cent of school land has been surveyed and the exercise is ongoing to establish the actual acreage.
He said the move to have the schools issued with title deeds was informed by rampant encroachment on and grabbing of parcels by unscrupulous and well-connected individuals.
He said the land-grab has reached alarming levels in the constituency, with public utilities, including parcels set aside for schools, hospitals, social halls and recreational facilities, as well as land belonging to squatters, being the main targets.
“I have reached out to the Ministry of Lands and Cabinet Secretary Faridah Karoney has agreed to have our schools issued with title deeds to protect their land from being grabbed,” Wainaina said.
In 2019, the lawmaker and his office thwarted attempts to grab five acres belonging to Kiboko Primary School in Thika town and a 22-acre parcel belonging to Mbagathi Secondary School in Kilimambogo, Thika East.
Some unknown individuals, who acquired the land irregularly, subdivided it, erected beacons and were about to develop it.
Wainaina said lack of title deeds has exposed many public institutions to land-grabbing.
“Issuing the vital land ownership documents to our schools is the only way to ward off the intruders. We cannot let the grabbers take the only land our schools can use for expansion,” he said.
Wainaina added that the individuals—known to have deep pockets—have already sued him and the NG-CDF office, claiming ownership of school parcels.
“They have gone to courts claiming to be owners of the land, but we will not be cowed by their threats and intimidations. We will do what is right and protect the schools’ land for the sake of children,” he said.
The grabbers have been a thorn in the flesh of residents as they leave nothing to chance in their quest to satisfy their insatiable greed for public land, the legislator said.
“They have become a nightmare to us, but their days are numbered. I have requested for a land clinic in Thika and I’m optimistic that it will be the solution we direly need to end such cases."
Wainaina also warned land officials who have been abetting theft that they will be personally held liable for the illegalities.
"The land officials who signed the fake documents allowing the corrupt individuals to illegally own or occupy public land will be personally liable for the crimes,” he said.
Ruiru MP Simon King’ara has also tabled a bill in Parliament to have all public institutions across the country issued with title deeds.
The Public Land Amendment Bill, 2018, according to the MP, is designed to compel the state to ensure all public schools get proper ownership documents to insulate them from perpetual land-grab.
