A dispute has arisen over a two-kilometre strip of land hived off the Mwingi Game Reserve in Tseikuru and Kyuso, Kitui, on orders of retired President Daniel arap Moi in 1986.
Moi told a public rally at Kyuso Secondary School that Kenyans were more important than wildlife, and thus the strip be carved out for human settlement.
However, years after his directive no one has been settled on the said land to the chagrin of the people neighbouring the game reserve. They expected to be the first beneficiaries.
In 2011, however, the county council of Mwingi allocated 5,000 acres to the moribund Wikithuki irrigation project.
Residents of Kaningo and Musavani locations in Tseikuru are now up in arms against the adjudication of their land, which is adjacent to the land apportioned to the irrigation scheme.
About 200 landowners in Kyenini, Kamuthanga, Wikithuki and Kaningo sublocations which lie in the Masasini adjudication block, claim the surveyor is using a phoney map that wrongly places acres upon acres of their land in the irrigation project land.
Angered by the alleged unfair adjudication, the heads of the affected families met at Kamuthanga on Sunday and petitioned the subcounty lands officer John Karanja, Tseikuru deputy commissioner Paul Mwaura and MP Paul Nzengu to intervene and save their land.
The minutes of the meeting show Wambua Muryu and Kennedy Kiliku Kangata were elected respectively as chairman and coordinator of the community committee, which will pursue justice for the affected residents.
Other officials are John Musesa as secretary and Syumbua Mbuvi as treasurer.
The minutes, seen by the Star yesterday, indicate the residents noted the surveyor declined to adjudicate their land, claiming it fell within the 2km-strip set aside for the Wikithuki irrigation scheme.
“The map being used is not in conformity with the beacons marking the cutline scheme land on the ground. The cutline marked on the map extends way beyond the two-kilometre strip reserved for the irrigation, wrongly placing a big chunk of people's land within the project,” the minutes read in part.
The aggrieved residents said they had no confidence in members of the Masasini Adjudication Block Community committee led by former Tseikuru councillor Musyoka Musumali for sleeping on their job and not protecting the interests of the residents.
But Musumali said there was no justification to blame his committee as he had personally raised concerns with the relevant lands office, the Tseikuru deputy county commissioner and the area MP when he realised that something was amiss with the adjudication.
“When my committee realised the surveyor was using the wrong map, I raised alarm. I filed a protest letter with all relevant authorities. That was as far as my powers could reach,” he said by phone.
Mwingi North subcounty Lands officer John Karanja acknowledged he received complaints on the Masasini adjudication block exercise.
“We are working on the issue and the anomaly will be harmonised by next week,” Karanja said by phone.
He, however, said those who had encroached on the Wikithuki irrigation project land will not have their parcel adjudicated as it was public land.
