- A search conducted at the Gatundu Land Registry on November 22, 2023, indicated that the land is reserved for a hospital.
- Its proprietor is the Native Land Trust Board, now the County Government of Kiambu.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
A row over a prime land in Gatukuyu town in Gatundu North, Kiambu county is simmering pitting residents, a coffee factory and a group of women.
Residents say the 1.8 acre piece, that is at the centre of a protracted dispute, is a public utility that was set aside for construction of a hospital, expansion of Gatukuyu police station and construction of a school.
Locals led by Margaret Wambui sounded the alarm over plans to grab the land noting that they have thwarted several attempts by unknown individuals to invade the land.
Wambui told journalists on Tuesday that the land is being claimed by Gatukuyu coffee factory management as well as a group of women identified as New Gatukuyu Nursery School Self Help Group, who claim the land was given to them by former Gatundu MP Ngengi Muigai in 1979.
A search conducted at the Gatundu Land Registry on November 22, 2023, indicated that the land is reserved for a hospital whose proprietor is the Native Land Trust Board, now the County Government of Kiambu.
“Currently, a section of the land is being cultivated by individuals in the coffee factory and a nursery school has been put up by the group on another section. We have legitimate documents clearly indicating that this land is a public utility earmarked for construction of a hospital,” Wambui said.
She said the tussle over the land is the main reason the area, and especially Mang’u ward, lacks crucial amenities like a health facility, adding that locals are forced to seek medical services in far flung facilities.
Paul Kung’u, a village elder, said security officers in the area are working under chaotic conditions noting that they have no proper facilities including offices and housing amenities despite having sufficient space for expansion.
“Gatukuyu police station doesn’t have cells, they usually take inmates to Mwea police station which sits on a private property. The officers mandated to take care of our security do not have proper houses. We want the government to expedite expansion of this police station before the land available gets into private ownership,” Kung’u said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by residents Hellen Atemo and Regina Wanjiru who called on leaders led by Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi and area MP Elijah Kururia to protect the prime land from grabbing by putting up requisite public amenities.
The group laying claim on the land led by their chairlady Agnes Njeri claimed that the land was given to them by the former lawmaker after pleading with him to allocate them space to put up a nursery school.
Njeri said the group of 62 grannies has protected the land from infiltration by unscrupulous land grabbers for decades, adding that they are on the verge of securing a title deed for the parcel.
“This village had no nursery school and we pleaded for the land to put up one. We worked hard until we constructed the school which has seen thousands of children in this village get an education. This land is ours and we will protect it at all costs,” Njeri said.
However a letter by area chief addressed to Gatukuyu coffee factory indicated that a meeting will be convened in the area on March 1, 2024 seeking to solve the dispute.
The letter indicated that the factory management will be shown the boundary for its land measuring 5.9 acres and that of the ‘hospital’ measuring 1.8 acres.