The Nandi government will not extend expired leases to farms that have been lying idle.
Governor Stephen Sang said the county government is in talks with the Ministry of Lands and the National Land Commission to use the land to settle squatters.
He said many people in the county do not have land because of historical injustices.
“These people had ancestral land but were displaced when the colonial administration enacted the Compulsory Land Acquisition Act,” Sang said.
He spoke at Tambul Primary School in Chemelil during a meeting with NLC commissioners on the resettling of 14,000 squatters in the area.
Sang said after phase one of squatters' settlement, which was facilitated by former NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri, cases of cross-border stock theft ended because people started engaging in farming.
He said settling the remaining squatters would end lawlessness as people would engage in meaningful economic activities.
Tinderet MP Julius Meli appealed to the government to resettle squatters on farms whose 99-year leases have expired.
“It is the only way to guarantee and safeguard investments in tea and coffee plantations,” he added.
Meli challenged the youth to farm in the plots they have been allocated by the government.
NLC commissioners Regal Ouma and James Tuitoek warned against land fraud.
“NLC is seeking to end shortcuts in land acquisition, and we want to ensure that everyone has the right to property,” Tuitoek said.
