170 families staring at eviction,plead with governor Bii!

At least 170 families who were allocated government trust land in Kapsinende/Sirgoit in Uasin Gishu county after they were relocated from Elgeyo Marakwet to pave way for expansion of Iten town four decades ago are facing eviction after a private developer laid claim on the land.

The government relocated the families in 1978 to pave the way for expansion of the then Elgeyo Marakwet district headquarters and other public institutions.

 On Sunday the 1,300 household members who staged demonstrations in the area accused a private developer alleging that he is using fake title deeds to evict them from the land they were allocated by the government as compensation.

The families claim that they have been living in the area since 1978 until a private developer came with a suspicious title deed claiming to have acquired it legally and the property in dispute belongs to him.

“This is our land, we have been living here since 1978, the government gave us the land after we were relocated from Elgeyo Marakwet to pave way for construction of public institutions such as Tambachi TTC,Iten District Hospitals, Patrick’s High School, Police station among other public institutions,” said Mr Fredric Chebet who is among the beneficiaries.

Speaking during the demonstration, the furious families claimed goons suspected to have been hired by the private developer sprayed their maize plantations with a killer chemical that led to the withering of maize in the affected farms.

“Our hopes have been dashed after all our maize plantations have withered following a move by a person who claims to be the owner of this property hired goons to spray killer chemicals to our maize crops,” said Mr Chebet. 

Mr Chebet urged the government to intervene so as to save them from eviction from the said private developer.

Speaking during the demonstration they called upon the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate the title deeds in the possession of the said private developer.

“We suspect that the documents in possession of a private developer including title deed are forged and we are calling upon EACC to investigate the legality of these documents,” Mr Chebet said. 

Sayid Keitany, one of the affected people, regretted that their effort to reach local administration to address the matter has been futile.

We have been visiting various government offices in this region where we are only given promises with no serious action.

Mr Keitany said the grabbers are threatening to evict the only primary school in the area.

“We have taken our delegations to various government offices including County commissioners’ offices at Ainaptich and in Eldoret town. Most of the government officers are just making promises to intervene with no serious action,” said Mr Keitany.

Uasin Gishu County commissioner Edyson Nyale said his office has not received any formal complaint from the affected families.

However, Mr Nyale appealed to concerned families to visit his office for deliberation on the matter.

“My role here is to ensure that all residents are living in a peaceful environment, since this is the first time I am hearing about this case I will make efforts to get the attention of all parties so as to forge the way forward,” said Mr Nyale.

 

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