Exit Karen saga, enter Athi River: How Portland is being robbed of Sh40 billion land

Structures put up on East African Portland Cement land, March 2015. [Paul Wafula, Standard]

Ironically, it is the State and pensioners who will be the biggest losers in the land grab.

This is because the Government, through the Treasury and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), have a combined stake of 52 per cent in the cement manufacturer.

French company Lafarge is the second-biggest shareholder in the firm, with a 41.7 per cent interest. Combined, the Government and Lafarge have 93.7 per cent shareholding in the cement maker, which was incorporated in 1933.

The cement maker has four parcels of land that have so far been encroached on.

One of the parcels, LR 8784/4, is 1,338-acre plot located just behind Daystar University and was valued by Portland at Sh800 million over three years ago.

But the price has shot up to Sh8 billion, going by current market rates.

A Mr Sammy Kithilu now claims to be the owner of this land, which he sub-divides and sells. The most active site of this piece of land is fenced and has more than 20 makeshift structures on it.

The second piece, LR 10425, has 4,271 acres and sits directly opposite Kitengela town.

A group known as Settled Villagers now occupies this piece. The group also goes by the name Wamuchoki. This land has more than 40 illegal structures erected on it since 2013.

Colonial government

Kitanda na Mbuzya, a splinter group of Settled Villagers, on their part, have laid claim to a 2,072-acre piece, whose title is LR 7815/1.

The fourth parcel under contention is LR 10424, a 4,298-acre plot that extends from the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) past Athi River all the way to the railway line.

Portland is fighting over ownership of this parcel with a group, Aimi Ma Lukenya Society (AML), that boasts membership of between 300 to 400 people.

Combined, the total acreage under threat is 11,979 acres, which Portland estimates to be worth more than Sh40 billion.

However, going by what NLC is paying for compulsory acquisition of land in the area for the SGR project, an acre is worth at least Sh6 million.

This means that the land in question could fetch as much as Sh72 billion if divided into one-acre plots and sold. It could be even more valuable if subdivided further or sold as housing development estates.

A title presented in court shows that Portland acquired the parcels of land from the colonial government from as far back as 1960.

Yet, the groups claiming to own the land have only been registered in the last five years.

Mavoko MP Patrick Makau confronts police officers overseeing the demolition of houses illegally occupying the East African Portland Cement land, October 14, 2023. [Peterson Githaiga, Standard]

Correspondence shows that EAPCC decided to write to the Ministry of Lands seeking to establish if their title had indeed changed ownership.

On November 19 last year, EAPCC received confirmation in writing that the land belongs to it. That is when the lobbying began.

It is alleged that on December 5, officials from one of the groups met with a top CID official, whom we cannot name for legal reasons, at a popular five-star hotel and offered him 15 acres of land.

Soon after, however, Portland received a court order, restraining several groups from encroaching on its land.

But this has not helped it in its fight to hold on to its land after administration police at Kitengela developed cold feet and have been unable to enforce the order.

AML also has a search letter signed by Charles Ngetich and dated April 2014 that shows the land is theirs.

However, court documents show that Mr Ngetich was transferred in January last year. Further, he has denied signing the letter as he does not work for the Lands Registry, but for the Lands Commission.

A splinter group from AML has now changed tack. It has acknowledged the land belongs to Portland, but wants the cement maker to give it to them on adverse possession grounds - this happens when someone occupies land for more than 12 years.

However, there is no evidence on the ground that any part of the land has been occupied for over a decade.

The recent visit by Business Beat revealed the group is still registering members and putting up fresh structures on sub-divided plots.

-This article was first published by The Standard on March 31, 2015, and written by Paul Wafula