The victims were part of a group of over 500 armed youths said to have invaded the private farms belonging to former top government officials, among them retired senior military and police officers.
The land was initially part of the Kimwani ADC Complex in Tinderet constituency.
Nandi county police commandant Thomas Ototo, while confirming the incident, said the youths who were armed with bows, arrows and other crude weapons, confronted police officers on patrol, resulting in a confrontation and the shooting.
Ototo said the invaders had set on fire 20 acres cane farm belonging to a former presidential escort commander.
“The armed youth confronted police officers, leading to a confrontation,” Ototo said.
Thousands of residents from nearby villages also joined in the invasion of the disputed land that has also been claimed by squatters in the area.
“They set on fire sugar cane, and they have also invaded farms belonging to other people,” Ototo said.
The farm, formerly Kimwani ADC complex in Tinderet, was allocated to senior civil servants, well-connected personalities in the military and police in the former KANU regime.
Residents under the umbrella of Chebonet squatters have been pressing for settlement by the government in farms of “absentee landlords”.
Ototo said he had held a meeting with the group a day before and warned them against invasions and threatening police officers.
“There had been tension in the area, and we had talked to the residents to maintain peace and avoid the invasion,” Ototo said.
Ototo said additional security officers had been sent to the area and more action would be taken to calm tensions and restore order.
Those killed were two middle-aged men, and their bodies were taken to a local morgue.
