Residents want 50-year land dispute resolved to avert clashes

Residents of Egu Kalinga village protest the alleged grabbing of a 10,000-acre ranch in Samburu sub-county / BRIAN OTIENO

Women at Egu Kalinga village protest the alleged grabbing of a 10,000-acre ranch in Samburu sub-county / BRIAN OTIENO

Michael Lugwe, an elder in one of the 26 villages under the 10,000-acre ranch / BRIAN OTIENO

A 10,000-acre ranch bordering the Tsavo East National Park in the new Samburu sub-county is the subject of a five-decade-long dispute and is now threatening to degenerate into chaos.

Villagers of Egu Kalinga in Mackinnon ward want the National Land Commission to fast-track the resolution of the dispute before people start getting hurt.

“What we are hearing in the shadows is that there is going to be a major eviction soon. We will not allow that to happen. We have been silently watching as those who claim to have authority over the ranch continue to personalize it,” Changoti Lugwe, a resident, said.

Lugwe is the only survivor of the 25 original members of the ranch, which has since had its name changed by a former powerful chief, now deceased.

However, the descendants of the chief now insist the land is theirs, and they want to develop it.

The initial ranch was established through the amalgamation of seven villages in the area, including Egu, Dupharo, Nyacha, Dokata, Roka, Sirira, and Silaloni, in the 1970s.

The ranch was intended to promote socio-economic development for the pastoralist community.

However, no significant development has been done.

Instead, the descendants of the deceased powerful chief have expanded the ranch to now include 19 other villages.

The area under the ranch includes 26 villages now with about 3,000 families and more than 6,500 people living on it.

The villagers want the land reverted to the community.

Lugwe on Saturday said the former powerful chief abused his position and in 1971 replaced legitimate members of the ranch with his relatives.

He also had the original occupants forcibly evicted by game rangers.

Now, the community has no access to the land. They have been denied it despite numerous petitions.

Their latest appeal was in 2021.

A meeting with the NLC in March this year did not reach an amicable solution.

Now, the villagers say the descendants of the chief are colluding with some land officials in Kwale County to expand the ranch even further, albeit illegally.

“We are now landless and cannot graze our livestock or build homes,” Lugwe said.

“What we want is to get our land back. Enough is enough,” Lugwe said.

“We want justice. The land should revert back to the community. We are calling on the NLC to assist us.”

Michael Lugwe, 70, said the villagers approached the chief with the noble idea of establishing a ranch, which he accepted to be part of. He led the registration process.

“After the ranch was registered, the chief changed the names of members of the ranch behind our backs and replaced them with his kin since 1972.

“In the year 2000 we started to demand justice; eventually our complaint was picked up by NLC through our main petitioner, Changoti Lugwe,” the elder said.

Agnes Nyae, 61, said their movement has been curtailed as they are being chased by armed guards and have no land to graze their livestock and have no alternative.

“We cannot even fetch firewood. The other day they chased me, and only God knows how I escaped them,” Nyae said.

INSTANT ANALYSIS:

The NLC has had several sittings with the villagers, but a solution is yet to be arrived at.

The residents now fear there could be an imminent eviction exercise, with the youth in the area vowing to resist any attempt to evict them, possibly leading to chaos.