- He said in January, he will lodge a petition at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council to have the land given back to residents.
- The former governor said he will also lodge a petition to have Murang’a and Mt Kenya residents benefit from the Ndakaini dam.
Image: Alice Waithera
Former Murang’a governor Mwangi Wa Iria has revived his fight against the renewal of the land lease to Del Monte Fruits Processing Company.
He said in January, he will lodge a petition at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council to have the land given back to residents.
“When I tried to fight for that water, they sent the police but my aim was to fight for locals’ rights and I will not stop. I know Murang’a has produced a Water CS but it is not about positions. It’s about the benefits accrued to locals," Wa Iria said.
“Water is our main resource as Murang’a yet we are neglected. I will also take this issue to Geneva so my people can get what is rightfully theirs.
Wa Iria has said the land that spans more than 22,000 acres was initially inhabited by residents before it was forcefully taken by settlers.
The former governor has reiterated that the American company occupies a sizeable percentage of the county and that he will push for the land to be disbursed to residents.
Some residents have been fighting for a section of the land to be ceded to local communities, saying its vastness has denied them access to vital social amenities.
Kandara Residents Association which was led by Phillip Kamau filed a petition at the high court in Murang’a in 2016 seeking to stop the National Lands Commission from renewing the company’s lease until the land is ceded.
The case, however, hit a snag after the association sought time to have the involved parties resolve the case out of court but the company did not turn up for dispute mediation.
Wa Iria on the other hand pushed for 3,000 acres to be ceded along the busy Thika Kenol highway together with former senator Kembi Gitura.
Image: Alice Waithera
The two leaders wanted a mega city established in the area to absorb the excess population from Thika and Nairobi while providing employment to thousands of residents.
Speaking to journalists at Kabati in Murang’a on Friday, Wa Iria said NLC is in the process of renewing the company’s leases and that he will oppose it.
The company’s land has had several leases that have been expiring over the last few years.
It has also ceded 1,200 acres of land that Governor Irungu Kang'ata said he will use to construct a Level Five hospital.
The former governor said he will also lodge a petition to have Murang’a and Mt Kenya residents benefit from the Ndakaini dam.
Wa Iria has cited Murang’a county which supplies more than 82 percent of water consumed in Nairobi city and its environs through the Ndakaini dam yet the majority of residents don't benefit.
He said a portion of the revenue generated from water should be ploughed back into areas where the resource is sourced from.
In 2018, Wa Iria caused a storm when he said he wanted 25 per cent of the revenue collected from water drawn from Murang’a given to the county.
Wa Iria said that Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company benefited from water drawn from the county for free yet it charges Nairobi residents, making a profit.
MCAs were then teargassed by police officers as they attempted to go to the Ndakaini shopping centre which is next to the dam to conduct a public forum.
The police said they had received information that the MCAs had planned to vandalise the dam’s infrastructure.