The government has softened its stance on the demolition of houses in the contested Ngong Road Forest, saying it is open for talks.
The Environment and Forestry ministry is willing to find a lasting solution to land ownership in the once government forest, Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko said on Monday.
Tobiko said he is not after demolition of properties but a win-win solution for both the government and the private developers and asked members of Parliament to mediate the matter now in court.
“It is not my intention to demolish the houses. If this committee can mediate on this issue, we can resolve it once and for all. We need to sit and come up with a win-win solution,” he said.
“The law allows Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to issue leasehold for up to 50 years. It is upon those affected to come out and say let’s talk and we negotiate the new terms.”
Last month, the CS announced that the illegally acquired forest land would be reclaimed and told the occupants to surrender it or face Mau Forest-like wrath.
He said the fencing off of the forest will begin in a couple of months.
Last week, the Environment and Land Court temporarily halted the planned demolition of houses after several applications by the residents.
The residents also petitioned the Parliament through their MP Nixon Korir.
Justice Bernard Eboso said the residents got their titles lawfully and plans by Tobiko to demolish their homes on claims they were built on grabbed Ngong forest is unlawful.
Yesterday, Tobiko maintained before the Parliamentary Committee on Environment chaired by Maara MP Kareke Mbiuki that the land was fraudulently acquired by powerful individuals using companies which cannot be traced even at the Registrar of Companies.
“Official searches undertaken at the Companies and Lands Registries have not unearthed the actual beneficiaries of most of these illegal allocations. Obviously the companies were created to conceal the true identities of individuals behind them,” he said.
He gave the example of Seneca Holdings Limited as one of the illegal beneficiaries of the Ngong Road Forest reserve land, and which has since written to the ministry denying it was ever allocated or owned land in the forest.
The contested land was gazetted as forest in 1932. Its acreage at the time was 7,239 acres. This has since shrunk to 3,722.5 acres due to excisions.
- mwaniki fm
