The County government of Kajiado has raised a red alert over increased land fraud in the region saying conmen are now targeting expansive community land through illegal subdivisions.
The majority of land conflict cases have been pitting plot owners and individual freehold parcels of lands but a new trend has now emerged with some local leaders entrusted as communal land trustees colluding with land grabbers to disinherit natives.
Some elected leaders, senior civil servants and rogue officials in the ministry of land and national lands commission(NLC) are said to facilitate the fraud by bagging millions of money to facilitate the illegality.
In an interesting turn of events, cartels are now ignoring pending active court cases by writing forged letters that the community have agreed to Alternative Conflict Resolution (ADR) and thereafter illegally subdividing land while natives residing in the land are unaware.
For instance, Keekonyokie Trust land measuring approximately 2,700 acres whose value is about Ksh70 billion situated in Kibiko, Ngong is at the centre of a scandal where 11 individuals are said to have subdivided the land to companies and non-locals prompting the county ministry of land to cancel processing of title deeds.
At least 718 individuals including unknown non-local relatives and the dead have been listed as beneficiaries of the communal land leaving out natives.
Crafty grabbers have also taken into social media to create conflicting list comprising of popular and famous locals to entice unsuspecting land buyers and maliciously proof legitimacy and approval of the subdivision.
Interestingly, some parcels of the land have been earmarked as conservation areas despite being a prime chunk of homes with natives settlement.
For instance, Oloika primary school has been allocated five acres but the parcels are in sections and apart as far as 8kms raising questions.
In a two days crisis meeting held in the area, tearful natives protested the illegal subdivision geared towards rendering them homeless even as the county government maintained the subdivision is illegal.
“The land mother title is with the community. Corrupt cartels in the ministry of lands aiding to forge documents are messing up our county. It is a worrying trend that if not urgently addressed is likely to plunge the county into a bloody mess. Members of the public should be cautious when buying any piece of land and for community land which is being advertised for sale at way cheaper prices that is a fraud,” county executive committee member of lands Hamilton Parseina said.
Parseina further stated that the Kajiado county government has embarked on advertising earmarked community lands being eyed by fraudsters and grabbers to avert the rampant land conflicts in the region.
“As the county, we are focused to save potential investors from being conned by grabbers, however, each individual has obligation to exercise due diligence and responsibility while transacting land matters,” he added.
The communal land was being utilized as a public livestock holding ground until 1956 when the government reverted the land to the local community when the project ended.
The process of subdividing the land among its members in 2018 was dimmed by a splinter group that went to court to bar the move prompting the status quo to remain.
In the meantime, tension remains high in the area as community members burn the midnight oil in crisis meetings to chart the way forward.
Two factions of political leaders have emerged with some elected leaders also named as beneficiaries supporting the subdivision while others oppose the move.
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