Land
The Lands Registrar in Homa Bay County Edward Bosire has decreed the formation of a taskforce to determine the ownership of a contested 100-hectare piece of land in Ndhiwa Sub County.
Bosire said the taskforce will look into allegations that some individuals grabbed the land from the community. He said the taskforce should eventually determine whether the land belongs to the individuals or to the community. The disputed land in Kamdar in Kwabwai ward is under contestation between members of the Kachuth community and a group of people who claim to own it.
Bosire said he recommended the formation of a taskforce to scrutinize ownership documents in possession of both parties. “The documents must be taken through forensic analysis to determine whether they are genuine or not,” Mr Bosire said. The Registrar said he has power under Land Registration Act to revoke the title deed if it is determined that they were illegally acquired.
“Whoever will not be satisfied with the decision can proceed court,” he said. In a heated meeting with the warring parties Wednesday, community members accused a resident of being behind land grabbing but the man defended himself saying he owns the title deed.
During the meeting it was established that the land was not included during adjudication process and that it was initially part of Ruma National Park. “There is no registered community land within Kamdar registration section. The available land was the one left out during the fencing of the Park,” the registrar wrote in his report.
But during fencing of the park, the community through their political leaders had an agreement that the land be left for residents to use for different agricultural activities. According to Mr Bosire, adjudication officers from Nairobi visited the land more than 10 years ago and measured it before allocating numbers for each piece of land.
Bosire said the taskforce will look at the documents and establish how they were acquired. “The taskforce will also inspect the land and take measurements as well as get information from Ruma National Park to establish if the land originally belongs to them,” said Bosire.