More than 10,000 residents of Muhoroni, Kisumu county, have demanded 4,000 acres that were hived off their land a few years after Independence.
The Koguta clan says the land was taken to cater for a nucleus estate plantation for Muhooroni Sugar Company.
Land reclamation committee chairman Tom Owuor on Tuesday said the population of the area was 400 then but has now grown big.
“Koguta area is congested such that we can't even build a toilet or houses. We need our land back. It was taken in 1968,” he said.
Owuor said the land was taken from their forefathers with a commitment that it would be reverted once the factory was up and running.
Early this year, the National Land Commission returned the land to them through a Gazette notice. However, another community from Kericho has staked a claim of part of the parcel. Tension has been brewing in the area.
Owuor alleged that some Kericho politicians have been inciting their community to claim part of the land, "yet they were not affected when Muhoroni factory was built".
On Tuesday, the Koguta clan members came out in their thousands in a demo on the Kisumu-Londiani road. They demanded the enforcement of the NLC order.
“We are going to boycott census exercise if the government fails to address our plight,” Owuor said.
Muhoroni-Koru MCA Julius Genga, who joined in the protest, said residents have suffered and faced hostilities from their Kericho neighbours.
He said that even though they were counted in Kericho in the 2009 census, the area has been sidelined in development.
“We will resist any attempt to count the Koguta clan on the Kericho side during the forthcoming census,” he said.
Genga said the resources being disbursed by the national government as a result of their numbers do not reach them.
(Edited by F'Orieny)
