Top state officials have been linked to a land tussle in Muranga which culminated in killings, to apparently scare locals and members of a company engaging them the land tussle.
Muranga High Court Judge Joel Ngugi on Wednesday said that a witness linked a governor and Cabinet Secretary to the murders over the land belonging to Kihiu Mwiri Farmers Company.
The judge who said that the witness was afraid to testify in public added that top police officials and a county commissioner were also involved in the killings.
He said that this was part of their plan to silence company members, as they questionably acquired part of the1288 acres of land owned by the company and kept it for themselves.
“I also met [XX, a prominent lawyer] about Breeze Farm. I also know that the Cabinet Secretary XX, Cabinet Secretary in the National Government] was one of the owners of breeze Farm. This was the name I did not want to mention. These are the three people I know that claim Breeze belongs to them,” the judge quoted the witness.
The witness said that the Breeze Farm, a company linked to the top state bosses, managed to fraudulently carve out prime portions of land from Kihiu Mwiri.
He said that through the company, the named persons proceeded to take 240 acres but documented it as 134 in the sale documents.
He termed this as the reason behind the murder of one Peter Kimani Kuria, who met his death in September 2014, after opposing the plot, when he was then vying for the company's chairmanship.
The witness said that so interested in the land was the group that it was ready to donsnythinf to anyone standing on its way, hence the killings of those deemed to be opposed to their plan.
"I know that the security team in Murang’a beginning with the County Commissioner and the owners of Breeze are the ones who contributed to the security situation at Kihiu Mwiri…..I said in my statement that I suspect that it was Kariuki Macharia group that caused the death. I also know that Breeze Ltd was involved in the deaths. This was the true cause of the conflicts of Kihiu Mwiri,” he said.
The judge ruled that the team indeed used all its power to have its way, at the same time noting that the prosecution did very little to pin them.