The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Lands is scheduled to visit Kipini area in Garsen constituency, Tana River County, to assess land issues in the area.
Committee chairperson Joash Nyamoko told the committee members that the visit will be made in two weeks time.
It (visit) is meant to assess issues related to alleged unlawful acquisition of Kipini Community land by Kipini Conservancy.
“We will make arrangements to visit the area as requested,” Mr Nyamoko who is also a Member of Parliament for North Mungirango told the committee members at a sitting in Mombasa.
The committee is on a retreat at Whitesands beach hotel in Mombasa with the Ministry of Lands and the National Land Commission (NLC).
Ministry of Lands Principal Secretary (PS) Nixon Korir told the committee that the issue of alleged unlawful acquisition of Kipini Community land by the Kipini Conservancy has been subject of various court cases.
The PS told the committee that three out of four court cases have been concluded with findings in some of them being that claims of communal/ancestral land have neither been proven nor confirmed.
According to the PS, some of the court findings also indicated that the conservancy land is a private land belonging to Nairobi Ranching Company Ltd.
The PS further said that the land was not trust land and that the settlement schemes abutting the conservancy land were purchased by the Government’s Settlement Fund Trustee from Nairobi Ranching Company Ltd.
“These schemes are Kipini Settlement Scheme in Tana River and Witu Two Settlement Scheme in Lamu,” said the PS in his response to the committee.
The PS further said that the community's concerns have been subjected to various court cases and that the Ministry of Lands is bound by the decisions (of the court).
“However, the complainants can exploit the remedies under the National Land Commission Act,” the PS told the committee.
However, Garsen MP Ali Wario said people purporting to be owners of the land were called by the committee but failed to attend.
“We want justice for the people of Kipini,” Mr Wario told the committee adding that it (committee), surveyors and the Ministry of Lands ought to visit the area before concluding the issue.
Kaloleni MP Paul Katana termed the issue as having been controversial for a long time.
On the issue of expansion of Wajir Airstrip, the PS told the committee that the State Department of Lands has not received any request to undertake the survey of the proposed expansion area for the Airstrip.
“The State Department remains available and willing to provide any additional information or technical support that ministries, departments and agencies may require concerning the proposed expansion of Wajir Airstrip,” Mr Korir told the committee.
Separately, speaking after the committee session, the PS said by December, the Ministry of Lands intends to have processed over 300,000 title deeds for issuance to residents at the coast.
Mr Korir also added that they intend to buy land and settle squatters saying it is a commitment the government made.
“The settlement schemes which have stalled for a long period of time are set to be completed and residents issued with title deeds,” said Mr Korir.
The PS said that the government’s objective is to ensure that there are no squatters and that the owner of the land being bought to settle the landless gets compensated.
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