School wins Ngilu, Swazuri backing

Lang’ata Road Primary School owns the playground that had been targeted by a private developer, Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu and the National Land Commission chairman Muhammad Swazuri said on Monday.

Official documents indicate that the land belongs to the school, which obtained a title deed for it in 1972, the two officers said at Whitesands Beach Hotel in Mombasa County.

While declaring that there was no shortcut in the matter, Mrs Ngilu said the tract of land must revert to the school as it had been proved to be public land.

“The details are with the National Land Commission, which has dealt with the issue very ably,” she told journalists after opening a workshop for the ministry’s land administration officers. She praised Dr Swazuri for handling the issue well.

Dr Swazuri said the school had a title deed for the disputed land, obtained in 1972.

“Our investigations have established that the school acquired a title deed for the land in 1972. The controversial piece, which is under dispute, was amalgamated with the school title in 1974,” he said.

However, between 1984 and 1989, some people started laying claim on the same land, resulting in the current dispute.

“We toured the area yesterday (Sunday) and we have the documents to show who the true holder is; it’s the school,” said Dr Swazuri.

He added that another plot belonging to Our Lady of Mercy Girls Secondary School in Shauri Moyo had been grabbed.

“We also looked into the Kenyatta University land saga and also established that squatters are occupying it illegally and we have ordered them to vacate the land because the institution wants to construct two hospitals,” he said.

ACQUIRE TITLE DEEDS

Dr Swazuri said even after being allocated 30 acres by the university, squatters who are occupying 70 acres now demand a total of 13,000 acres.

The problem arose after Thika Superhighway cut through the university’s land and squatters assumed one side of the road did not belong to the institution and occupied it.

He directed all learning institutions in the country to acquire title deeds to keep grabbers at bay.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary Committee on Lands will investigate individuals associated with the grabbing of the Lang’ata Road Primary School playground.

Committee Vice-Chairman Moses ole Sakuda said his team would meet after the current recess to smoke out the alleged grabbers. He said the committee was disappointed by the manner in which State power had been used to handle protests against the grabbing of the school land.

“How heartless can people be? We will be meeting at the end of the recess to investigate this matter. We will demand that concerned government institutions show us who the owner of the controversial land is and circumstances that led to its acquisition by the claimants,” said Mr Sakuda, the Kajiado West MP.

Opposition Cord leader Raila Odinga, who was previously the Lang’ata MP, also condemned the brutality displayed by police against the children who were protesting the grabbing of their school playground.

“I have learnt with extreme shock and shame that pupils of Lang’ata Road Primary School have been injured after police threw tear gas canisters at them and other well-wishers who joined them to protest the grabbing of their school’s playground,” said Mr Odinga, describing the act as an embarrassment.

CONDEMNED ATTACK

“The image of a nation determined to steal forcibly from its own children cannot be what we aspire to.

“However greedy, acquisitive and heartless we may be, we surely can stand up for the children. After all, they are the people we are guarding the nation for,” said Mr Odinga.

Kuresoi MP Zachayo Cheruiyot also condemned the attack on the pupils.

“Is this real? It is sad that someone can do this to Kenyan children. To call this impunity is an understatement,” said the MP.