A group of Maasai tribesmen on Friday morning blocked the busy Narok- Mai Mahiu road near Suswa town to protest over the ownership of Kedong ranch.
The protests caused a major traffic snarl up on the busy highway.
They vowed to stop the ongoing construction of the Standard Gauge
Railway (SGR) through the vast land which they claim ownership.
"We will block the ongoing plans to construct the Standard Gauge Railway, there is a case on the land that is still pending in court," area MCA Kipas Lengues
"We shall not seat back and watch as our ancestral land is grabbed by
unscrupulous traders and we ask the President to intervene on this,"
he said.
The demonstration follows a newspaper advert by Kedong ranch limited
that it was the rightful owner of the land that lies between Nakuru,
Kajiado and Narok counties.
One of the community leader Mike Roka called on donors involved in
financing the SGR, the industrial park and geothermal drilling to stop
funding the projects.
Roka wondered why Kedong limited was ignoring the ongoing legal
process adding that there were over 28,000 families living on the
disputed land.
"We respect the rule of law and we are asking Kedong to do so also but
we shall not be intimidated by newspaper adverts," he said.
An elder, Samuel Salita, challenged the First family to come clean on
the issue of the land following allegations that it had a share in the vast farm.
"We shall make sure that all ongoing projects on this land which we
got from our ancestral fathers does not continue until we get
justice," he said.
A mother of five Lilian Leson said that they had lived on the parcel
of land for years and had even constructed schools and knew no other
home.
"We voted in this government with the hope that it would assist us but
the community has continued to be oppressed mainly on land issues," she
said.
