Tension mounts over grazing land after ADC evicts herders

Controversy is mounting at the expansive Mutara Ranch in Laikipia County following orders issued last month for herders to remove their 14,000 animals from the land.

According to a communication from the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC), a state agency that owns the property, the herders, who had leased the land, were given until May 1, 2025, to leave.

The herders have leased the land since 2009 and pay the agency Sh250 per cow per month to graze. At one point, they had 14,000 animals on the ranch, but the ADC management has since abruptly terminated their lease.

The herders, from Samburu and Baringo counties, had leased 50,000 of the 63,000 acres of land. Residents from surrounding villages, including Pois, Upper Suguroi, Thome, Matigari, Check Point, and Irok, allege that a senior official in the government, is behind their troubles.

They claim two individuals, acting on behalf of this government official, have entered into a new lease agreement with the ADC and have taken control of the 50,000 acres previously designated for their livestock.

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John Lenyoike, a herder from Samburu, said their livestock are currently experiencing an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, making it impossible to move them.

“The disease is highly contagious, and if we move our livestock now, it will spread to other areas,” he said.

Lenyoike believes the two individuals, Mark Tayklor and Haji Musa, signed new leases with ADC to occupy the land that was previously allocated for their animals.

“We believe these two individuals are behind our troubles, and we have credible information that they represent a senior government official at State House,” he claimed.

Efforts by The Standard to reach Tayklor and Musa were unsuccessful; their mobile phones went unanswered, and text messages received no reply. Lenyoike and a group of herders said of the 50,000 acres they had leased, they were left with only 13,000 acres for grazing their livestock.

“Now we cannot even use those 13,000 acres because the cartel has leased that too. This is inhumane. The government must step in and resolve the issue. Livestock is our main economic stay,” he said

Nicholas Leiroya, another herder from Laikipia, said ADC management has informed them that it intends to reserve the 50,000 acres for its own livestock.

 “They claim they are saving the land for their herd of cattle, which we know they do not have. We suspect there is a sinister motive from the state agency,” Leiroya said.