People who obtained public land in Nandi county irregularly have 21 days to voluntarily return it or else the regional government will repossess it.
The county has identified more than 200 properties it claims to have been acquired illegally.
The ultimatum comes hardly a month since Governor Stephen Sang was arraigned in Kisumu for alleged invasion and destruction of tea bushes on land he claimed had been taken over by some individuals.
Owners of the disputed plots have accused Sang and his administration of staging unnecessary controversies to divert public attention from graft in the county government.
Land executive Kiplimo Langat has defended the administration, saying the governor was committed to ensuring all public land is safeguarded for the benefit of residents.
“It includes the thousands of hectares under the multinational sugar companies in Nandi and other public plots,” Kiplimo said.
On June 11, Sang was charged with malicious damage of property, incitement to violence and abuse of office.
The charges emanated from the governor's move to lead the public in repossessing four acres at Kibware Tea Estate he claimed was meant for a cattle dip but which had been illegally taken over by the firm associated with former Cabinet minister Henry Kosgey.
“The county is now targeting our plots to further its vendetta and propaganda aimed at settling political scores,” one of the plot owners served with the notice said.
Langat and his Finance counterpart Alfred Lagat said the governor had strong public support. “The county gave a six-month grace period to those who took over public land illegally to return it and a few of them did but we will now follow up on those who are defiant,” the finance executive said.
Nandi has many squatters. Multi-national tea companies own almost half of the land in the county on which the squatters work as casuals.
“The multinational tea farms were taken over from residents by the colonialists but when they left, the grabbers moved,” Lagat said.
The decision to repossess the grabbed land and plots was endorsed last year at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Sang.
Edited by R.Wamochie
