Syokimau demolitions: Mavoko land woes...
Exposed!
By Anchor Reporters
The demolitions of hundreds of homes at Syokimau area of Athi River District in Machakos County could just be a tip of the iceberg in the region, The Anchor reveals
It underlines years of failing government in the administration of land . Sources in government who spoke to The Anchor say the bottom line in Syokimau and Athi River in general is the State’s failure to manage land.
“ That is the reason that the government could not wait for the establishment of the constitutional Land Commission when it appointed a Task Force to probe into land invasion and wanton grabbing of land in Mavoko Municipality to address the rot in the administration of land”, said the source who refused to be named.
Groups of people, coordinated by politicians and civic leaders in Mavoko have been organizing their supporters and relatives to form groups that invade farms belonging to individuals and state organizations.
Already, two people – a former Education Official turned businessman Mr J. KImondi alias Sawa Sawa and Mrs Lilian Musenya Ngali who were acclaimed land dealers were shot to death by people who were reportedly shortchanged in the land deals.
The schemers then sale the land and offer Share Certificates for alleged Settlement Schemes, connive with lands officials to reproduce Part Development Plans that show the land as free so as to convince the gullible residents that once they buy the shares, they can go ahead and develop the plots as they await Title Deeds.
These are the circumstances that have resulted in citizens constructing palatial homes in land they own no titles for. As a result, organizers of the groups, including the politicians have grown wealthy over time from the sale of this membership that automatically allocates you a piece of land.
Once the beneficiaries get to the Municipal Council of Mavoko, they have been received a regime willing to compromise as long council dues are paid, hence the din that is being heard from property owners in Syokimau that the council never raised issues over the land.
Besides, almost all councillors at the Mavoko Municipal Council are members of the cartels that sell land in the name of Settlement Schemes and there is a general understanding in Town Hall that such deals are acceptable.
They are acceptable because once a person buys this bogus membership, the cash finds itself into the pockets of cartel kingpins at Town Hall.
A member of the Task Force indicated to The Anchor in confidence that once a raid was carried out at the mabati office of one of the cartels, receipt books showed that the group had collected a total of Sh 250 million from gullible Kenyans.
The fact that they have collected cash in one area and nothing has been done to stop them has spirited the efforts to create ,many more false schemes, resulting in attempts to grab land belonging to East Africa Portland Cement.
So entrenched are the cartels that the Provincial Administration and the police have been watching as residents complain of their land being grabbed and settled on by mostly rowdy residents who seem to have support from local leaders. “It is because the money reaches the leaders and they also want to show that they are helping their supporters get land”, our source stressed.
This state of affairs has triggered action at the Lands ministry to issue new and more stringent guidelines for anyone searching its land registry records following fears that scores of people are holding fake title deeds for land and property.
The Commissioner of Lands Mr Zablon Mabea confirms that some people in these areas had fallen victim to unscrupulous brokers who use genuine title deeds to produce fake ones which they then issue to unsuspecting buyers. “We are aware that there are people out there generating fake documents,” said Mabea. Officials in the Lands ministry as well as players in the real estate and property sector said many people had been conned into buying land allocated for public use or earmarked for industrial development.
Survey maps of the Athi River, Mlolongo and Kitengela areas show that huge chunks of land initially earmarked for export processing zones, a public university and police stations. holding ground for the Kenya Meat Commission, the Machining Complex and the Athi River Cemetery have been illegally invaded by individuals who have since subdivided them and sold them as plots.
Mabea said the racketeers involved two competing groups of wealthy land brokers who connive with dishonest lawyers to produce the fake documents. He added that the brokers visit the lands office where they conduct searches for the titles of the land they were targeting under the guise that they were interested in buying the same.
Working with some of the Ministry staff, the brokers alter documents to suits their pursuits to show they are the real owners. They then , subdivide and sell the plots to unsuspecting people. When a prospective buyer conducts a search before purchase, it will indicate that the broker is the genuine owner. The fraudsters have even gone to the extent of replacing names of directors of various land holding companies and using fake names to sell land belonging to others.
Mabea said the Criminal Investigation Department will arrest the fraudsters. He said so far, six cases have been filed in court while another 13 cases were reported to the ministry in the last week. Residents of the araea.
The situation has been worsened by the provincial administration and powerful individuals in government who have turned a blind eye on the grabbers. Plans by aggrieved residents to hold a demo to protest against the continued grabbing of public land were last week stopped by the police. The residents have now threatened to block the highway if the government does not take action against the land grabbers.
The task force is chaired by former District Commissioner Mr John Abduba. Ministry of Lands PS Dorothy Angote and Permanent Secretaries in the ministries of Internal Security, Nairobi Metropolitan, Industrialisation and Labour also sit in the team. Other members include Mavoko Town Clerk, Lower Eastern regional commissioner Mr Joseph Otieno and Bishop Nicholas Muli, Ms Shamit Singh and former Mavoko Mayor Mr Juda Muoka.It is in the process of compiling its report.
The Task Force has questioned, among others, Assistant Minister Wavinya Ndeti who also is local MP, Mavoko Mayor Patrick Makau Kingola and former Assistant minister and leading investor in Mlolongo Mr Kalembe Ndile
Even then, the task Force has been facing challenges including court injunctions and protests, the most prominent coming from Kalembe. “The new constitution says there will be a National Land Commission which will say who are the real owners of the land,” said the former Kibwezi MP as he sought to know where the Task Force draws its mandate from.
Youth and Sports assistant minister Wavinya Ndeti, who has pitched tent in the area for days, condemned the government’s move and vowed to seek justice for the victims. “How do we subject people to this kind of treatment in this age and time?” Ndeti asked.
The sprawling Syokimau is in dispute with the KAA, with the latter claiming ownership of the parcel on which the demolitions are taking place. Ndeti further claimed that the land is in her Kathiani constituency, Machakos county, away from Nairobi area.
The controversial area is divided into two phases, Jumbo and Uungani, with the latter having a pending court case.
Exposed!
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It underlines years of failing government in the administration of land . Sources in government who spoke to The Anchor say the bottom line in Syokimau and Athi River in general is the State’s failure to manage land.
“ That is the reason that the government could not wait for the establishment of the constitutional Land Commission when it appointed a Task Force to probe into land invasion and wanton grabbing of land in Mavoko Municipality to address the rot in the administration of land”, said the source who refused to be named.
Groups of people, coordinated by politicians and civic leaders in Mavoko have been organizing their supporters and relatives to form groups that invade farms belonging to individuals and state organizations.
Already, two people – a former Education Official turned businessman Mr J. KImondi alias Sawa Sawa and Mrs Lilian Musenya Ngali who were acclaimed land dealers were shot to death by people who were reportedly shortchanged in the land deals.
The schemers then sale the land and offer Share Certificates for alleged Settlement Schemes, connive with lands officials to reproduce Part Development Plans that show the land as free so as to convince the gullible residents that once they buy the shares, they can go ahead and develop the plots as they await Title Deeds.
These are the circumstances that have resulted in citizens constructing palatial homes in land they own no titles for. As a result, organizers of the groups, including the politicians have grown wealthy over time from the sale of this membership that automatically allocates you a piece of land.
Once the beneficiaries get to the Municipal Council of Mavoko, they have been received a regime willing to compromise as long council dues are paid, hence the din that is being heard from property owners in Syokimau that the council never raised issues over the land.
Besides, almost all councillors at the Mavoko Municipal Council are members of the cartels that sell land in the name of Settlement Schemes and there is a general understanding in Town Hall that such deals are acceptable.
They are acceptable because once a person buys this bogus membership, the cash finds itself into the pockets of cartel kingpins at Town Hall.
A member of the Task Force indicated to The Anchor in confidence that once a raid was carried out at the mabati office of one of the cartels, receipt books showed that the group had collected a total of Sh 250 million from gullible Kenyans.
The fact that they have collected cash in one area and nothing has been done to stop them has spirited the efforts to create ,many more false schemes, resulting in attempts to grab land belonging to East Africa Portland Cement.
So entrenched are the cartels that the Provincial Administration and the police have been watching as residents complain of their land being grabbed and settled on by mostly rowdy residents who seem to have support from local leaders. “It is because the money reaches the leaders and they also want to show that they are helping their supporters get land”, our source stressed.
This state of affairs has triggered action at the Lands ministry to issue new and more stringent guidelines for anyone searching its land registry records following fears that scores of people are holding fake title deeds for land and property.
The Commissioner of Lands Mr Zablon Mabea confirms that some people in these areas had fallen victim to unscrupulous brokers who use genuine title deeds to produce fake ones which they then issue to unsuspecting buyers. “We are aware that there are people out there generating fake documents,” said Mabea. Officials in the Lands ministry as well as players in the real estate and property sector said many people had been conned into buying land allocated for public use or earmarked for industrial development.
Survey maps of the Athi River, Mlolongo and Kitengela areas show that huge chunks of land initially earmarked for export processing zones, a public university and police stations. holding ground for the Kenya Meat Commission, the Machining Complex and the Athi River Cemetery have been illegally invaded by individuals who have since subdivided them and sold them as plots.
Mabea said the racketeers involved two competing groups of wealthy land brokers who connive with dishonest lawyers to produce the fake documents. He added that the brokers visit the lands office where they conduct searches for the titles of the land they were targeting under the guise that they were interested in buying the same.
Working with some of the Ministry staff, the brokers alter documents to suits their pursuits to show they are the real owners. They then , subdivide and sell the plots to unsuspecting people. When a prospective buyer conducts a search before purchase, it will indicate that the broker is the genuine owner. The fraudsters have even gone to the extent of replacing names of directors of various land holding companies and using fake names to sell land belonging to others.
Mabea said the Criminal Investigation Department will arrest the fraudsters. He said so far, six cases have been filed in court while another 13 cases were reported to the ministry in the last week. Residents of the araea.
The situation has been worsened by the provincial administration and powerful individuals in government who have turned a blind eye on the grabbers. Plans by aggrieved residents to hold a demo to protest against the continued grabbing of public land were last week stopped by the police. The residents have now threatened to block the highway if the government does not take action against the land grabbers.
The task force is chaired by former District Commissioner Mr John Abduba. Ministry of Lands PS Dorothy Angote and Permanent Secretaries in the ministries of Internal Security, Nairobi Metropolitan, Industrialisation and Labour also sit in the team. Other members include Mavoko Town Clerk, Lower Eastern regional commissioner Mr Joseph Otieno and Bishop Nicholas Muli, Ms Shamit Singh and former Mavoko Mayor Mr Juda Muoka.It is in the process of compiling its report.
The Task Force has questioned, among others, Assistant Minister Wavinya Ndeti who also is local MP, Mavoko Mayor Patrick Makau Kingola and former Assistant minister and leading investor in Mlolongo Mr Kalembe Ndile
Even then, the task Force has been facing challenges including court injunctions and protests, the most prominent coming from Kalembe. “The new constitution says there will be a National Land Commission which will say who are the real owners of the land,” said the former Kibwezi MP as he sought to know where the Task Force draws its mandate from.
Youth and Sports assistant minister Wavinya Ndeti, who has pitched tent in the area for days, condemned the government’s move and vowed to seek justice for the victims. “How do we subject people to this kind of treatment in this age and time?” Ndeti asked.
The sprawling Syokimau is in dispute with the KAA, with the latter claiming ownership of the parcel on which the demolitions are taking place. Ndeti further claimed that the land is in her Kathiani constituency, Machakos county, away from Nairobi area.
The controversial area is divided into two phases, Jumbo and Uungani, with the latter having a pending court case.
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