President William Ruto’s name will feature today at the proceedings of a tribunal on a dispute involving public land in Lang’ata, Nairobi, on which families displaced following the 2007 post-election violence are settled.
Representatives of 1,200 families, who claim they settled on the land in 2008 with the clearance of then President Mwai Kibaki, accuse a local politician of selling plots on the public land while using President Ruto’s name.
One of the orders they want the National Environment Tribunal to issue is to block the politician, Mr Saja Muraya, and the Director-General of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) from dragging the President’s name into the dispute.
The internally displaced persons (IDPs) claim that although they have been occupying the land for 15 years, the same has been allocated to a private developer and they are facing imminent eviction.
They have sued NEMA and its director-general Mamo Bolu, the Registrar of Lands, the Attorney-General, Mr Muraya and the Nairobi City County government.
In documents filed at the tribunal, the claimants allege that Mr Muraya “states that he is selling the public land on behalf of President Ruto and that Mr Bolu has authorised” the exercise.
‘Above the law’
“He seems to be operating above the law, selling public land, blocking public roads and charging citizens to access the same. He even states that he is selling the public land on behalf of His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto and that the 6th respondent (Bolu) has authorised, endorsed and approved the same,” reads the documents.
“He even places his phone on loudspeaker where an individual claiming to be Mr Bolu says that we should leave the land as the same has been sold and that it is the President himself, William Ruto, who has directed the sale,” further reads the documents.
The case will be mentioned today at the tribunal chaired by Mr Mohamed Balala. Its members are Waithaka Ngaruiya, Dr Kariuki Muigua and Bahati Mwamuye.
“Mr Muraya, who is a local politician, came to the applicants and demanded that they should give him half of the land for his personal development and he would offer them protection,” reads the documents.
The land is near the Dam estate in Lang’ata. The claimants argue that apart from the land being public and riparian, it is also a way to leave for Kenya Power.
“The applicants have been in occupation of the land with their grandparents, parents and children. They have built homes on the suit property, which is located under the main national power grid of the Kenya Power and Lighting Company. The said land is public land and has never had any title as it belongs to the government,” said the claimants. Led by Mr Zablon Kibe, they add that the land houses a church, school and residential houses and that the structures are 200 metres away from the Nairobi dam.
The claimants further allege that they have been furnished with title deeds for the said land, “which strangely have three different persons as owners”. They say that the intended sale of the land to private individuals is based on the said titles.
‘Fake titles’
“Mr Muraya has stated that the current owner of the land is a relative of Mr Bolu and the same has been sold under the directive of President Ruto. We reported the fake titles to the land fraud unit, which held that they were fake and that they were issued on a Sunday,” the IDPs said.
“Further, there can never be any title deed that can be issued on public land, under the main electricity way leave and no title can be issued to two different individuals on the same land,” add the claimants.
The claimants allege that NEMA has since issued a notice requiring them to vacate the property. Though NEMA had indicated in the notice that the vacation of the residents was to pave way for the restoration of the Nairobi dam, the IDPs allege that a private developer has laid claim to the land and is threatening them with eviction.
They want the tribunal to set aside the directive issued by Nema on November 30, 2022, requiring them to stop further construction of structures on the riparian land and vacate it.
“The said directive is illegal, unprocedural and violates the inherent rights of more than 1,200 families. The directive is reckless, oppressive and has now led to an extortion syndicate by unscrupulous individuals who say that unless payment is made to them in cash of Sh1 million, they will proceed to destroy the houses,” says Mr Kibe in his affidavit.
The IDPs further allege that the notice is intended to dispossess them of the public land and have the same “unlawfully sold”.
“Nema even failed to provide a basis for their decision, evidence of their claim or even inform the public or seek their opinion before issuance of the directive. The said directive is so general that no one knows the limits of the enforcement and this has left poor families exposed to conmen, thieves and constant harassment by unknown persons,” they say.
In addition, they claim that a private individual has blocked and taken charge of a public road to the land and that he is charging Sh30 for its use.
They are seeking an order stopping any person from demolishing their houses or interfering with their occupation of the land. They also want the tribunal to visit the site and examine itself.
