Ruiru MP Simon King’ara on Tuesday led his constituents in pleading with the Lands ministry to extend the ongoing lands clinic at the Ruiru Lands Registry.
He said thousands of residents will be locked out of the exercise and miss the vital services should the ministry fail to allow an extension, suggesting one month. The clinic is scheduled to end today.
King’ara said 12,000 cases have been addressed since the start of the exercise last month. He said 2,000 to 3,000 residents attend the event daily but only 1,000 cases are handled.
"This means thousands, most of who have serious land matters, have yet to be served. I plead with Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney to consider extending the exercise so all issues can be solved once and for all,” King’ara said.
He said land disputes, including succession, multiple allocations, parcels acquired fraudulently and other land related-disputes, especially those emanating from rogue land-buying firms, would be addressed fully.
Similar sentiments were shared by residents. Magdalene Njambi said she has been camping at the Lands offices but has yet to receive services.
Joseph Kuria said he has yet to receive a title deed for his Ruiru parcel after decades of waiting.
"We have lived on our land like squatters with no vital ownership documents. We had prayed a lot to have such an exercise and God answered our prayers. We only plead with the government to extend it by more days so everyone can get justice and documents," Kuria said.
King'ara urged residents to turn up in large numbers to have their issues fixed. "Everyone must seize that opportunity and ensure that any land-related issue they have is addressed,” he said.
The lawmaker also noted that it’s a great chance for all members of land-buying companies, including the giant land company in Ruiru, Githunguri Ranching Company, to have their grievances fixed so they get title deeds.
Githunguri Ranching Company has more than 5,000 members and owns almost 80 per cent of the subcounty.
“We know a significant percentage of landowners in Ruiru do not have title deeds and issuance of the vital documents has been delayed by prolonged disputes that have rocked this region for decades. This is the best time to have the disputes solved so everyone can be issued with title deeds,” the MP said.
King’ara said the clinic will end the protracted disputes that have even claimed lives of innocent residents. He urged the companies to ensure their members have been issued with titles to restore order in land ownership.
“Companies that have leadership disputes must solve them at once because the wrangles have been a thorn in the flesh for members who have been thrown into confusion. We must end land disputes in Ruiru once and for all,’ he said.
(Edited by F'Orieny)