Teita sisal estate allowed to sell 3000-acres to locals

One of the largest sisal estates in the world has the green light to sell 3,000 acres of land.

A court in Voi dismissed a case filed by the local community land to challenge the ownership of the land in Mwatate, Taita Taveta .

According to court documents, Teita Sisal Estate, Africa's biggest sisal farm, plans to sell the land to investors to establish a Smart Green-Inter Corking City in the Mwatate sub-county.

However, Mwasima Mbuwa Welfare Association petitioned the Environment and Land Court in an ELCL petition No E004 of 2024 to stop the sale.

The association secretary general, Mnjala Mwaluma, claimed the management had encroached on the community land and Singila and Majengo villages where there is a heavy presence of squatters on the disputed farm.

But yesterday, Justice EK Wabwoto of the Environment and Land Court said the petition lacked merit, saying Teita is the owner of land registered numbers 3380, 3881, 6929, 9847, and 11378.

“The sisal estate acquired the land on 30th May 1964 and this was well documented as entry no 1083. There was no encroachment by the respondent into the neighboring trust, community, or private. Singila/Majengo legally belongs to the First respondent and there was no encroachment whatsoever into community land,” ruled Justice Wabwoto.

Justice Wabwoto said the petitioner and its members had encroached on the private property.

“Parliament dealt with the matter. It filed a report that adopted the survey report forwarded to the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Lands. The judicial is precluded from interference with certain decisions of parliament in the performance of its constitutional duty,” said the Judge in his ruling.

The management of the Sisal estate allayed fears that it would now evict squatters.

“We have implemented the recommendations of the parliamentary committee report on land. The estate exercised 284 acres of land to the national government for settlement of the squatters, who have lived in the estate land for years,” Managing Director Philip Kyriaz said yesterday.

He said the sale of 3000 acres of land is a separate entity and has nothing to do with land currently occupied by squatters at Singila and Majengo villages.

locals have six months to buy 50 by 100 plots at the cost of Sh270,000, and upon expiring the deadline, the selling process will be open to all Kenyans.

“We have rejected good offers from three investors from outside to buy all the plots because our main focus is allocating locals first. We have sensitized locals to buy the plots first because prices will fluctuate every three months,” the MD told a stakeholders consultative meeting.

on March 4, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) approved Teita Sisal Estate's mixed land use master plan to sell 3000 acres of land from its vast firm to private developers with locals given priority.

Kyriaz said the new development of the 3000-acre plot along the strategic Voi-Mwatate road will facilitate investment and economic growth for the benefit of the local community in areas of employment.

The company is active in growing sisal and manufacturing sisal goods like rope, sacks, and baling twine at its manufacturing facility in Nairobi.

Records from the Ministry of Lands show that the farm has about 30,000 acres, including 5,000 acres of conservation area and 25,000 acres under sisal production.

Kyriaz said under the first phase of the city, the firm will procure Solar panels from China and construct underground water tanks.

Under the master plan, 1,743 acres are set aside for residential, 123 acres for commercial plots, 320 for high density, 487 for modern density, 281 for low density, and 655 for super low density.

“There will be plots for residential low, medium, upper low density and transport and water plan for the flagship project,” he said.