No squatters are living in Mavoko, just gangs grabbing residents' land, a task force has been told.
The Taskforce on Current State of Ownership of Land in Mavoko, Machakos county, and Invasion by Squatters started its work on March 18.
It sits at Mavoko Municipal Hall. Hundreds of investors have appeared before it, most of them complaining about land cartels.
“Your invitation was about squatters in Mavoko. There are no squatters in Mavoko. The name of the task force should be changed to '...organised illegal groups, criminals which are in Machakos county',” a resident by the name Mutinda said.
“Similar groupings are in Italy, where they are called ‘mafias’. This is what has started in Mavoko. We call them ‘miradis’."
Mutinda said just about 20 people are benefiting from the area's land and gangs are used to deny rightful landowners access to their property.
“Some government officials are part and parcel of the land cartels. Article 40 of our Constitution is very clear. It gives us the right to be secured by this team, but I am not secure on my Dramvel land,” he told the team.
Mutinda said police do not respond to reports of armed gangs invading private land, whose owners have title deeds.
“Our case has got nothing to do with squatters, they are organised criminal gangs. They collect more than Sh1 million in a single day from unsuspecting buyers. They sell land belonging to individuals, private companies, government institutions, among others,” he said.
Private investors that appeared before the team on Monday included Utumishi Invested Limited, Mavoko Afya Housing Association and Nairobi Secondary School Teachers Sacco, whose members are police officers, nurses, and teachers—both serving and retired.
Utumishi Investment Limited is a sister organisation of Kenya Police Sacco, it has more than 15,000 shareholders.
The members told the commissioners that the organisation, which buys and sells land, bought the disputed property in Dramvel, Mavoko Town Block 12/832, in 2013.
They said the five acres were sold to them by its owner, the late Harrison Mwangi, and they divided them into 54 blocks of 1/8th each. Towards the end of 2014, invaders encroached on part of the land and started sub-dividing it further and erecting new beacons.
“[They only kept off] after they realised that the land belongs to police officers,” said one of the sacco members.
The members said they cannot sell the land as the gangs have made it difficult for them to access it.
They asked the task force to recommend a police station or post be built on the land.
Mavoko Afya Housing Association members said they were ejected by residents from 189 acres, Mavoko Municipality 39/1, LR NO 22139, IR 70443, the Sheep and Goat land that they bought in 2001.
Chairman Duncan Musafari said residents have made the environment so hostile that they are unable to develop the land.
He said the sacco bought the land from Mavoko Waste Company.
“Individual members bought their parcels from Afya Sacco. We were however roughed up by Maasai community claiming ownership. Efforts to have the local provincial administrators to resolve the matter has been futile,” Musafari said.
He said most members are depressed, some have died, while others have retired but are sickly because of the stress.
“We are headed to the 20th year without settling on the land. We want to be assisted so that we settle on the land. Give us the land, we will build ‘mabati’ structures since we don’t have money to build permanent houses,” Musafari said.
Nairobi Secondary School Teachers Sacco said it bought five acres in Sabaki from Jennifer Waithera of Lake View Investment Company in 1993.
Chairman John Odero said Kenya Finance Bank, the teachers' bank, collapsed in 1999 after the 700 members borrowed loans to buy the land.
Odero said the land has been invaded by individuals holding fake ownership documents.
“Over 100 armed goons attacked the members who had gone to visit their land on May 27, 2017. Someone is constructing a storey building, the construction is done only on Sunday night,” he said.
Odero criticised the courts for allowing themselves to be used by the gangs. Individual investors, state cooperations and institutions are battling the invaders in courts.
The task force’s public hearings end on Wednesday.
