Issue titles to schools and public spaces, Juja MP tells Lands ministry

Juja MP Francis Waititu wants the Lands ministry to issue title deeds for public land and schools in the constituency. He said on Saturday that fraudsters have been selling the parcels to unsuspecting investors and the constituency will lose more land if the situation continues unchecked.

The MP warned that they will not sit back and watch public property stolen to the detriment of residents. Waititu said unscrupulous individuals have grabbed acres allocated for markets, playing fields, public schools and health facilities with “an insatiable appetite” for public property.

The legislator launched plans to settle the traders on 20 acres that had been grabbed. It is a prime plot located along the Thika Superhighway. Resident Lucia Nyambura, 80, had staked claim to the land. Waititu said she was not the first to claim ownership. In the late 1990s, a former councillor and a chief invaded the land and subdivided it between themselves but were flushed out by residents and community leaders, he said.

The National Assembly Lands committee member urged the National Land Commission to repossess public spaces that have been unlawfully acquired.

[Article source: The Star, by John Kamau]