- Beneficiaries are members of Kandara Residents Association who have been pursuing allocation of part of the land occupied by the multinational.
- Court battles pitting the group against the fruit juice maker will come to an end once they settle on the land.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
More than 5,000 residents of Murang’a and Kiambu counties are set to settle on a large chunk of land currently owned by fruit processor Del Monte.
The beneficiaries are members of Kandara Residents Association who have been pursuing allocation of part of the land occupied by the multinational whose lease is due for renewal.
They are expected to settle on 70 per cent of the land that will be released by the firm while 30 per cent will go to the two counties.
In a Gazette Notice dated March 1, 2019, the National Land Commission said 70 per of any excess land ceded by Del Monte should be given to members of the community and 30 per cent to the county governments.
The 30 per cent that will go to Kiambu and Murang’a is meant for putting up of public utilities including a hospital, markets, social halls, recreational parks, public schools, a police station and government offices.
KRA patron Phillip Kamau who addressed members of the association in Thika on Saturday said the breakthrough in their pursuit came through government intervention.
He said the court battles pitting the group against the fruit juice maker will come to an end once they settle on the land.
“We are waiting for instructions on how and when we will settle on the land. This, of course, means that the cases in courts regarding the Del Monte land will come to end. We are happy that finally justice is being served to us,” Kamau said.
The squatters group has been entangled in countless suits with Del Monte Kenya and Murang’a and Kiambu counties over the land that is currently occupied by the firm.
The patron noted that the majority of beneficiaries are people whose families suffered historical injustices during the colonial era when they were dispossessed of their land which the colonialists converted into large-scale sisal farms before resorting to pineapple growing.
“A good number of them are squatters from Gachagi, Umoja and Madharau villages in Thika while the rest are from Kandara subcounty in Murang’a. God has heard our prayers and we will finally settle on the land which is rightfully ours,” Kamau said.
The beneficiaries will be settled on approximately five acres. Besides the residential and agricultural portions that will be subdivided to members, there will be an industrial park, cottage industries, green houses and land for the construction of a mega city.
“There are investors, both local and foreign, as well as financiers who have already shown interest in forming partnerships with the beneficiaries. The land that we are set to get will be put into proper use to support the government’s Big Four agendas. Some 2,000 acres will be put into extensive agricultural use where residents will be able to grow enough food for local consumption and for export,’ he said.
Kamau noted that there will be construction of a city that’ll be known as Kandara InterCity on the farm along the Nairobi-Nyeri highway.
“This is a dream come true for the members most of whom have toiled and moiled for years working as casuals in Del Monte’s pineapple farms and retired without any benefits and who were flushed out of the farm unlawfully,” Kamau said.
Residents who spoke after the meeting said they have finally seen a light at the end of the tunnel and that their pursuit and waiting for release of the land for decades will come to an end.
“I was born, raised up and got married at the farm now owned by the company. My parents died and were buried in the farm. That land is where I called home and I have waited for more than 50 years to go back there. I am happy that God has answered our prayers,” said Milkah Machuki, 78.
Resident Paul Ngugi expressed his joy, saying that his years of being called a squatter have come to an end and that he will now own a portion of land. “I’m also glad because my children and my great grandchildren will have somewhere to call their own home,” Ngugi said.
In the meantime, Kamau said that the lobby group will be demanding compensation and a judicial inquiry for victims of atrocities allegedly committed by the firm and their families after it was established that many locals were subjected to brutal treatment and some were even murdered in cases dating back 50 years ago.
He said that the latest incident occurred in December last year when three young men lost their lives in the hands of the company guards in a span of one week..
The firm owns approximately 50,000 acres under a leasehold pact which is renewable every 99 years.
Edited by Henry Makori