Clergy call for calm over disputed Kibiko land

A section of Kajiado County clergy. They've offered to mediate between the two groups claiming ownership of Kibiko land. [Peterson Githaiga, Standard]

An umbrella body of bishops has called for calm following tension over ownership of a community land in Kibiko area of Kajiado County.

Addressing the press in Matasia town in Kajiado West Sub-county on Thursday, the clergy under Keekonyokie House of Bishops offered to mediate between the two groups claiming ownership of the Sh9 billion piece of land.

Led by Bishop Peter Olonapa and Bishop Tephen Kesire, the bishops asked that all parties claiming ownership of the Keekonyokie Trust Land stop any proceedings until the matter is resolved.

They proposed that a peace and resolution committee be established comprising all key stakeholders to come up with an amicable solution.

Trouble has been brewing at the 2,800-acre parcel situated at Ngong in Kibiko area following the ongoing allocations by the National Land Commission (NLC).

The Keekonyokie clan that owns the trust land has appealed to the government to stop senior government officers who have allegedly allocated themselves big chunks of the land.

Members of Kibiko Trust land demonstrate on January 4, 2023. [Peterson Githaiga, Standard]

The land was set aside in the 1970s by the then-Ministry of Livestock as an animal holding ground.

The community later managed to have it reverted to them as communal land and a title deed was issued in 2007.

The controversy has put NLC on high alert, with chairman Gershom Otachi calling for an urgent meeting with Lands Cabinet Secretary Zachary Njeru and Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku.

A letter seen by The Saturday Standard and copied to Lands CS calls for a stop to any activity by the Ministry of Lands and urges for more consultations with various stakeholders.

"It is prudent that you put on hold the process to allow arbitration and further engagement with all stakeholders for a win-win situation," says the letter.

On Wednesday, hundreds of residents held a demonstration to oppose the sub-division of the land.

They accused senior government officers of allocating themselves huge chunks of land at the expense of the residents.