Tension remained high in Mai Mahiu on Monday after tens of armed youth raided the vast Utheri Wa Lari farm and left a trail of destruction.
The youths burnt down a fence around the vast farm before police moved in to contain the situation.
The attack came just two days after the BBI rally at the Ole Ntimama Stadium in Narok where the controversial and emotive issue of ancestral land and historical injustices dominated the session.
For years, members of the Kikuyu and Maasai communities have clashed over the 22,000-acre farm before the Court of Appeal handed the land to the former in 2015.
Farm chairman Stephen Muiru said the attack had become the norm every time the planting season starts.
He said the attack had caused anxiety and concern among residents with some fleeing for fear of invasion.
“Over 50 youths who were armed attacked in the morning, burning fences and clearing some crops before retreating to one of the homes,” Muiru said.
Naivasha police boss Samuel Waweru said police had been deployed to contain the situation. “We had an incident where some youths tried to block residents from farming but we have managed to send officers to the ground,” Waweru said.
Naivasha MP Jane Kihara said the attack was instigated by incitement remarks made during the BBI rally.
Kihara said title deeds should be respected, said of Utheri Wa Lari went to court for over twenty years before getting justice.
“The fruits of the skewed BBI rallies can already be seen with some people invading private land and its time government stamped its authority on this,” Kihara said.
She said land remains a very emotive issue that has claimed tens of lives in past related clashed with property worth millions destroyed.
“It’s time we respected the law and title deeds and anyone illegally occupying someone’s land should be kicked out,” she said.
edited by peter obuya
