Residents who gave up land for SGR project demand payment

Mzee Kwenenda Kadida Nyawa (right) and some of his family members show a section of his land which has been taken over for the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) at Gwasheni village in Mariakani yet they have not been paid by the National Land Commission. March 09. 2015. They are supposed to be paid Sh.1.8 million. [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

Kwale,Kenya: Several landowners who gave up their land for the Standard Gauge Railway in Kwale County are yet to be compensated.

In a move that is likely to affect the progress of the mega project, the landowners are now threatening to block the works.

Several landowners yesterday marched to the offices of the Chinese company that won the tender to undertake the multi-billion shilling project demanding to be compensated amid reports that the National Land Commission (NLC) had withheld money from some beneficiaries due to inadequate bank details.

But the residents blamed State officials who they accused of entering their names and particulars wrongly in their award letters after the land was surveyed and valued.

They urged the NLC to rectify the mistakes. Last evening, NLC Chairman Muhammad Swazuri said the commission had paid all eligible residents, but acknowledged some may have been left out due to family disputes and wrong documentation.

He, however, said those claiming that they had not been paid had not complained to NLC.

 disrupted works

"We have paid most of the beneficiaries. Those who have not been paid are those with disputes and should forward their complaints to my office," said Dr Swazuri.

Hundreds of landowners have so far received million of shillings in compensation, with some of them having already used the money to buy alternative land.

Probably irked by the fact that others had been paid, the affected residents barricaded roads at Mlola village in Kinango constituency demanding payment and threatened to disrupt the entire project if they are not paid by Friday this week.

The proposed SGR line will run from Mombasa to Kampala and to Kigali. There is also a plan to link it to Juba from Tororo.

Works on the Mombasa-Nairobi stretch, the first phase of the project, have already commenced and they are expected to be completed by 2017.

And to make their intentions known, the protesting landowners also barricaded an access road near Mariakani to prevent construction workers from accessing the site.

''I am tired of being taken round in circles. I have been making trips to my bank to check whether money has been sent to my account  since January, but each time I come back empty-handed,'' said Kwenenda Nyawa, who gave up 1.497 hectares of his land in Mlola for the project.

 

Nyawa said that NLC surveyed his land last October and issued him with a notification slip to await compensation.

''I am supposed to be paid Sh1.8 million. My neighbours have already pocketed their compensation packages,'' Katana said.

He said he was forced to stop cultivating on his land where he plants maize and was hoping to reap from compensation and put to good use the proceeds.

Nyawa's neighbour, Chaka Katana, who is representing his aged father, is awaiting to be paid Sh1,080,840.

''I have also been a regular visitor at the Cooperative Bank in Mariakani and each time I check, the account reads zero,'' a crest-fallen Chaka said.