[Source: Business Daily, by Gitonga Marete]
Residents of Ontulili in Timau, Meru County, want the Government to move with speed and survey 2,400 acres of land claimed by the late Jackson Angaine’s family after the National Land Commission (NLC) ruled it is their property.
The 1,435 squatters petitioned NLC, claiming they had been allocated the land by founding President Jomo Kenyatta in 1975, but that the late powerful minister “grabbed it”.
On Wednesday, the residents recounted how they were branded squatters on the land in the 1980s and forcibly evicted from their homes which were later razed down.
In a Kenya Gazette notice published on March 1, NLC ruled the squatters were the rightful owners of the land.
“The commission noted that the land in question was excised from the forest to benefit the squatters. The commission recommends that the chief land registrar reverts the land to the claimants,” NLC said.
The Angaine family has vowed to challenge the notice, saying they had not been involved in the hearings before the decision was arrived at.
[Full article on: Business Daily, by Gitonga Marete]
