Residents of Mwariki estate in Nakuru have petitioned the county assembly to establish why they have not been issued with title deeds to a piece of land they acquired 43 years ago.
The members of Mwariki Farm Company (MFC) allegedly purchased the over 400 acres of land in 1971 from the national government for their settlement.
The over 1,100 families complained they got a lease agreement instead of title deeds for the land.
According to MFC chairman James Kairu, the company was agitating for freehold titles for the land which they legally bought.
Kairu claimed that in 1997 they received communication from the government that they were to get leasehold after paying a total of Sh5,600 as earlier agreed.
“They went against the agreement and we were issued with leaseholds yet the families had bought the pieces of land they occupied,” he said.
John Macharia, the Rhonda ward representative, noted that the residents of the area have been confronted by land issues for a long time and the Lands ministry has done little to address it.
Macharia added that the government should compensate the families if at all they want to reclaim possession of the land. He said that the residents should be given the title deeds to be guaranteed that they have ownership of the land.
The county assembly’s legal and justice committee chairman Stephen Kuria urged the residents to give them 60 days to investigate the matter and table the report through their area representative.
Kuria said the committee will summon all the individuals that have obstructed justice in addressing the land issues.
Zacharia Wairegi, a resident of Mwariki estate, noted that other people from different groups that bought pieces of land around the area got tittles that were mysteriously delayed for no apparent reason.
He blamed the former directors for being duped to surrender the land to the government without consent from members of the company.
Wairegi complained how the land rates have been doubled up recently, claiming that some land owners pay more than others for the same plots.