Ruto issues 10,800 title deeds to Meru residents

President William Ruto has issued 10,800 title deeds to residents of Tigania West constituency in Meru county.

The titles issued at Athanwa area will give locals the freedom to use their land to empower themselves.

“For many years, Meru county is known for the numerous land issues that are reported from this area. The solution is to ensure each resident has a title deed so everybody can undertake their own activities without conflicts.

“I sent Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome here to resolve these land issues and she will come back with more titles for Meru county," Ruto said.

The title deeds will enable the implementation of a Sh40 billion wind power project that will be implemented by investors from Japan, he revealed.

The project that is expected to produce clean energy has failed to take off due to land ownership issues in the county.

He said in his visit to Japan early last year, he met the Prime Minister and investors who signed a contract to invest USD250 million (Sh32bn) in a wind power plant in Meru county.

The President said issuance of title deeds will give a chance to the investors to complete projects to produce green energy and employ local youths.

“As the President of this country, I witnessed the signing of the contract for the Meru Energy Park and a major impediment has been lack of land ownership documents”.

The investment is set to occupy over 2,500 acres of land that will be leased out by residents, providing an income.

Ruto assured the investors that the county is now ready for the investment and pledged to do everything possible to ensure the agreements done with residents are fair to both parties.

“My government will do everything possible to ensure the investment is implemented smoothly including overseeing agreements to ensure they are a win-win for all,” he added.

Tigania West MP Kanuithia Mutunga noted that another investor has expressed interest to start a power project that will employ over 3,000 local youths.

Further, locals will lease out their land, earning about USD500,000 (Sh64.5m) while the county government will earn USD 1 million (Sh129m) annually from deal for about 20 years.

The MP appealed to the national government to help locals enter into power purchase agreements with the investor.