Kirinyaga county has committed to secure title deeds for 8,200 families at the disputed 17,000 acres South Ngariama land.
Governor Anne Waiguru and assembly majority leader James Murango said they will do everything to reclaim public land that has been grabbed.
They said failure by the defunct county council and the previous regime to pay the contracted surveyor its dues has resulted in grabbing of and encroachment on the land by leaders and politicians from within and outside Kirinyaga.
“It is unfortunate that these people are trying to jeopardise the issuance of titles, leaving many residents and rightful owners exposed with no recourse for the injustices,” they said.
In a statement also signed by 31 ward representatives, Waiguru and Murango said land grabbers are spreading propaganda and lies that the executive and assembly are colluding to benefit from the matter.
The South Ngariama ranch has for years been the subject of a battle between the area administration and the council of elders who lay claim to the land as the traditional custodians of the people of Kirinyaga.
The land was vested into the trusteeship of the defunct Kirinyaga County Council on June 21, 1965 on behalf of the people of the area, through the 1964 Constitution and the Trust Lands Act, Cap 285.
The land was earmarked for demarcation and allocation to the residents of the county according to nine Agikuyu clans. Part of the ranch was designated as public land.
“The County Council of Kirinyaga was placed as the legally appropriate entity to initiate adjudication process vide the judgment of Meru High Court of 2006 court case,” the statement said.
Geo-acre Surveyors was contracted to subdivide, allocate and do mapping in November 2006. The statement said the contract sum was Sh74 million but the council paid only Sh21 million.
It said the assembly proposed to reallocate Sh40 million from their budget to offset the outstanding amount and secure the release of maps and completion of the titling process.
It added that the executive approved the decision to reallocate Sh12 million and communicated the decision to the assembly.
“It is important to note that according to the Surveyors Regulations Schedule 8 of 2010 Constitution, only a contracted surveyor is allowed to issue the title deeds. It is also worth noting that should the titling process start again, the current rate of contract would be at least Sh300 million,” the statement read.
