Residents of Jomvu Sub-County have been urged to live in harmony in the wake of a surge in land-related conflicts pitting the residents and absentee landowners.

Speaking at his office Jomvu Sub-County Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Alphadex Gitonga said some of the cases have resulted in chaos exacerbating conflicts between the owners of the parcel of lands and those who have settled in those lands.

‘Some of the lands belong to what we referred to as absentee landlords and the residents have invaded and settled. We are witnessing challenges in such cases.

Most of the land cases are ongoing in law courts thus we appeal to residents of this area to be peaceful as we await the resolution of the cases by the courts,’ said the DCC Gitonga.

He encouraged those with complaints on land to use the laid down procedures according to the law to resolve the cases.

‘People should not take the law into their own hands; we encourage people to live in harmony as we wait for the conclusion of the cases. The cases that
are not in court should be channeled to our offices to be looked into,’ stated the DCC.

The sentiments from the DCC come barely a week after residents of Vikobani raised alarm after a developer started to erect beacons on a contested land where they have built their houses while the matter is active in court.

Peter Gichira, who has lived in Vikobani since 2007, said some goons are now walking around their houses ostensibly to protect the beacons.

The residents said they won a court case initiated in 2011 by the tycoon, after which they launched an adverse possession suit in court. ‘The hearing is on September 18,’ Gichira said.

In July, 30 families of Mwaeba village called on the government to intervene to prevent a private developer from evicting them from their ‘ancestral land’.

The residents told KNA then that they were astonished when they were awakened by hired youths in the wee hours, on a mission to demolish their houses built on the 30-acre land that they claimed they have lived in for more than
60 years.

The villagers claim the land is part of the Mwamlai scheme and were anticipating a sub-division of the land.

‘We have lived here for more than 60 years. My grandmother used to farm in this area before the Moi International Airport was built, she used to pass through the airport land to the Bokole area before the airport was fenced,’ said Wilson Nyamawi, a resident of Mwaeba.

He added that over the years no one has come forth to claim ownership of the land. They were taken aback when the private developer started to fence the parcel of land without informing the villagers.

Source: Kenya News Agency