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This was agreed upon after a consultative meeting was held on Monday between the Ministry of Defence and the Isiolo County government.
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The School of Infantry (SOI) land is the area contested where both KDF and Isiolo residents claim ownership.
Image: Ministry of Defence/ X
A technical team has been set up to come up with a solution within 14 days over the Isiolo- KDF land dispute.
This was agreed upon after a consultative meeting was held on Monday between the Ministry of Defence and the Isiolo County government.
The School of Infantry (SOI) land is the area contested where both KDF and Isiolo residents claim ownership.
The technical team with members drawn from the Ministry of Defence and the County are expected to go for a fact-finding visit to the site and come up with viable recommendations.
Isiolo County plays host to at least Four Military installations, namely the Seventy-eighth Tank Batallion, The School of Infantry (SOI), The School of Artillery (SOA), and the School of Combat Engineering (SOCE), with residents accusing the soldiers of forcefully shifting the boundary to the land they were allocated by community elders to set up their camps.
The team is expected to establish boundaries on all KDF-claimed land and also structures built on land claimed by the community and the defence forces.
Also, the team will identify all land (Acreage ) claimed by KDF as well as come up with suggestions on how to effectively solve and resolve this conflict.
Cabinet Secretary for Defence Aden Duale noted that the emotive disputes relating to military lands between the Ministry of Defence and local communities, require concerted effort, bringing together regional leaders and other stakeholders for a lasting, win-win resolution.
“We resolved to explore all ways possible to settle all court cases filed by the people of Isiolo against the School and give dialogue a chance in amicably addressing the challenge,” he said.
Duale also noted that Isiolo is one of the critical areas with a serious presence of the KDF, where soldiers are trained.
“Thus there's a need for ample training grounds and a buffer zone to enhance the safety of both the soldiers and the locals,” he said.
The CS was accompanied by Principal Secretary Patrick Mariru, Vice Chief of Defence Forces (VCDF) Lieutenant General Jonah Mwangi, Assistant Chief of Defence Forces in charge of Personnel and Logistics (ACDF P&L) Major General David Keter among others.
Image: Ministry of Defence/ X
On his side, Isiolo Governor Abdi Hassan Guyo pledged that he would ensure that there would be no more land disputes with the defence forces
“Finding a lasting solution to the land dispute between Burat Ward residents and the School of Infantry is something I hold close to my heart,” he noted.
The county chief also insisted that both the community and military should coexist even as they try to get a solution to the tussle.
“We are expecting a win-win situation, this issue must be resolved once and forever," Guyo added.
The Governor reassured the community members that his administration is committed to resolving the land row that overstayed for years.
Other leaders who accompanied Guyo are Senator Fatuma Dullo, Deputy Governor James Lowasa, Woman representative Mumina Bonaya, Isiolo North MP Joseph Samal, Isiolo county Assembly Member for Burat Nicholas Lorot and Ngaremara Ward MCA Peter Losu among others.
Last month, leaders from Isiolo accused military officers of harassment to their host communities in the protracted row to evict locals from their ancestral land, in a bid to expand training bases for soldiers.
Deputy Governor James Lowasa said that the military officers were going against the law by directly engaging civilians, and intimidating them with threats of demolishing their houses.
Lowasa said harassment by the military has persevered even after CS Duale recently assured locals that the land tussle with the Kenya Defence Forces was being resolved through Presidential intervention.
Earlier, Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo assured of her commitment to the quest for justice for residents involved in a protracted land dispute with KDF at the Senate.
Burat ward residents are the most affected with at least six villages reporting to have received eviction threats by the military.
Dullo said she has since 2019, when the communities were served with an eviction notice, been supporting the locals and had even secured a court order barring either of the parties from conducting any activity on the disputed piece of land