A group of Mau Mau war veterans will be settled on a piece of land Rumuruti, Laikipia County, a daughter of freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi said.
Evelyne Wanjugu Kimathi, the director of Kimathi Foundation, said 3,455 surviving members of Mau Mau will be settled on a three-and-a-half acre piece of land each starting January 2019 after her foundation started paying money to purchase the 13,000 acres of land.
Speaking Tuesday while inspecting the land in Rumuruti, Ms Kimathi said the foundation has attracted close to 5,000 members from across 11 counties who heeded to her call to register and buy land after they lost hope of government allocating land to the freedom fighters.
The foundation has signed an an agreement with the directors of Mathira-Kahonoki Gitaaraga Land Investment Company. Ms Kimathi said efforts by the first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta to settle the families of the Mau Mau freedom fighters at Solio ranch did not materialise since there has been a court case for the last 43 years.
She added that the surviving Mau Mau generals and their families each contribute Sh 5,000 as shares which will be used to purchase the Rimuruti farm at a cost of Sh 2.1 billion. She observed that most of the families live in abject poverty despite their immense contribution to the freedom struggle and independence of the country. She said her foundation has been in talks with the Kenyan and British governments over the settlement plans.
[Article source: Daily Nation, by Ndung’u Gachane]
