Tale of Kisii squatters who live near 500 acres of idle land

Families that have lived as squatters in their ancestral land in Kisii Town for six decades heaved sighs of relief after the Senate Committee for Lands visited the area to hear their case.

For close to 60 years, the residents of Mwabundusi village located in the outskirts of Kisii Town, have been living near the expansive 500 acres of land that is currently occupied by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (Kalro) after the government acquired the parcel without compensation.

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources visited the village that is sandwiched between Jogoo, Kisii Bottlers and Kiong’anyo estates on a fact-finding mission, a year after the residents filed a petition for their resettlement or compensation.

Led by their legal counsel Philip Achiki Ndubi, the residents told the Committee which was chaired by Nominated Senator Karen Nyamu that the land was allegedly snatched from them and handed to Kalro in the 1960s and they were left as squatters.

According to the villagers, the Government had promised to resettle them in Sotik, Bomet County.

"We are squeezed, have no land to farm or a place to bury our kin" Achiki said.

The lawyer said that their ancestors had volunteered to donate the land, while some was taken by the Kisii Bottlers Company which would be relocated elsewhere.

The villagers told the senators that they have no land for farming and and appealed to the government to compensate or resettle them.

They argued that the initial arrangement was that Kalro was to take up 88 acres of the land and leave the rest for the community.

"Let the organisation take the 88 acres and leave the rest of the land to the original owners. It is our ancestors who donated it to the government and we do not deserve to suffer" George Morara, another resident said.

Youth leader, Samuel Otaro said the place they were currently occupying was soggy and they are even forced to dig shallow graves to bury their loved ones.

“We cannot excavate deep graves because the surface water table is very shallow. This is not pleasing at all,” Otara said.

They also cited insecurity saying school-going children are at the danger of being attacked by criminals who hide in the overgrown bushes.

Kirinyaga Senator Kamau Mlango said neither the villagers nor Kalro had title deeds for the land.

"The Senate Committee will fight for the interest of residents who have suffered for such long time" Mlango said.

Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu said the National Land Commission (NLC) needs to allocate residents the land in Sotik and resettle them away from the riverbank.

"We fear floods can cause a disaster. Locals need an alternative land to settle and urge the government to act with speed" Nyutu said.

He accused the NLC of failing to address the plight of residents despite their petition to be resettled.

The senator asked all parties to present their documents within 14 days for the committee to make recommendations to the relevant State agencies for action.

"The Senate Committee will have a sitting with all relevant parties and listen before we make a conclusion" Nyamu said.