• The trust has a membership of 5,000 people.
• The 2,640-acre land near Ngong town has never been subdivided.
Leadership wrangles in Keek-Onyokie Community Trust emerged afresh on Sunday when a section of members claimed they own a fake land title.
The 2,640-acre land in is near Ngong town in Kajiado West constituency. The trust has a membership of 5,000 people. Their leaders have been fighting for positions for the last two decades.
A faction led by Moses Monik, which claims to hold a list of incorporated trustees of Keek-Onyokie Community Trust registered by the National Land Commission, said Kibiko’s title was cancelled last year.
The faction’s secretary, Lawrence Mbelati, told a church gathering of their members in Kibiko that the title was cancelled after it allegedly emerged “it was issued to a wrong hand”.
But another wing of the community trust led by Moses Parantai that has claimed to have a genuine title immediately dismissed the claims as falsehoods aimed at causing panic among the over 5,000 members.
“They are trying everything possible to discredit my leadership in the community land trust. I have had several delegations of Keek-Onyokie Community Trust members coming to my house in Isinya to congratulate me because they are seeing quality leadership in me,” Parantai said on Monday.
Mbelati was in the company of a section of trustee members that included Monik, Mamaa ole Kabura, pastor Sammy Nasira and Salash Kirini (chairman of the management board).
They said they are the bona fide elected and registered members of the trust.
“Parantai is moving around with a title that was cancelled long ago by NLC. We are now ready to seek a new title ahead of the subdivision of Kibiko land,” said Mbelati.
He explained the trust does not necessarily require a land title before subdividing the community land to its members.
“Let me make clear some of the issues that the media has been misunderstanding and misrepresenting in the news. To be an official of the trust, one must have the ground, members and registered as a trustee, which Parantai is not,” he said.
Parantai told the Star on Monday he had not been informed of the cancellation of the land title he is holding in trust of the community, adding that he will treat it as fake news.
Ewuaso/Oonkidong’i MCA Justus Ngossor, who also attended the Church service at Kibiko on Sunday along with area MP George Sunkuyia, recognised the leadership of Monik.
“If there is anyone doing meetings with members of his age-set and discussing Kibiko land issues in his private house, he has no interest of the people on that land they claim to hold office on behalf of members,” Ngossor said.
He told Parantai the last time the leaders of Keek-Onyokie community deliberated on the issues touching on Kibiko land in July he (Parantai) was nowhere to be seen.
“Bring your meetings of your age-set members to this ground so that we can physically see you to be working for the community. Any other meetings held outside here are deemed to be social gatherings and not representative of our vision,” the MCA said.
As the crack in leadership continued to widen on Sunday, names of powerful people in the Jubilee government emerged as those interested in buying huge chunks of the Kibiko land.
One senior Jubilee official is claimed to have used NLC officers and some of the local trustees to buy 300 acres on the prime land that now goes for Sh50 million per acre.
Some members in the trust believe that those causing chaos do not want the land subdivided.
On Thursday last week, Parantai, while meeting Iseuri age-set elders at his home in Isinya claimed people associated with Monik had paid the Sh7 million so they can change Kibiko’s land documents for alleged fraud.
But Monik dismissed the claims as malicious. “Those are the kicks of a dying horse. He has reached a dead-end, and has also realised my team is destined to spearhead the subdivision of the Kibiko land,” he said.
An insider told us those who will spearhead the subdivision are likely to get a bigger share of acres.
“Some will even get 20 acres. That is good money. Just multiply those acres by Sh50 million and you will understand why we are having endless wrangles,” the source said.