Truthing committee to vet South Ngariama documents

Kirinyaga County Government starts South Ngariama land titling process

By The Mountain Journal team

The County Government of Kirinyaga has started document verification exercise for South Ngariama land.

The 17,000 acre land is expected to benefit about 8,200 Kirinyaga residents.

The County Executive Committee member for lands, Samuel Kanjobe has said that the verification was part of the titling process for the land whose surveying had stalled for years.

The document verification exercise will take place between April 12 to April 15 at South Ngariama Chief’s Office grounds.

Kanjobe, said that the exercise is aimed at updating the allottees register for beneficiaries and current occupants of the land which will enable completion of surveying and the titling of the land parcels.

The exercise is being undertaken in partnership with Geo-Acre Surveys, the contracted surveyor.

The CEC said that the original owners of the land will be required to produce their identification cards, allotment letters, and original ballot while land purchasers will be required to produce the sale agreement, identification cards, allotment letters, the purchaser’s identification card, and the original and copy of the ballot.

Last month, the county executive and the assembly promised that the rightful owners of the land will be given title deeds.

“We are committed and determined to ensure that we secure title deeds for the rightful 8,200 families and reclaim the public land that has been grabbed and we will stop at nothing to ensure that it is done.” the statement read.

The land was originally and formally vested into trusteeship of the defunct Kirinyaga County Council on 21/06/1965 on behalf of the people of Kirinyaga, according to the provision of the former 1964 Constitution and Trust Lands Act, Cap 285.

The land was earmarked for demarcation and allocation to the residents of Kirinyaga County according to the nine (9) Agikuyu clans, part of which was to be designated as public land. The County Council of Kirinyaga was then placed as the legally appropriate entity to initiate the adjudication process of the land vide the judgment of Meru HCC 71 of 2006 court case.

The defunct local authority contracted Geo-Acre surveyors to subdivide, allocate and do a cadastral survey/mapping of the same vide memorandum of understanding dated 22^nd November, 2006. In so doing, the contractor was to assign land for public utility, for wetland including riparian and the rest to the rightful private owners.

The process was however abandoned by previous administrations until this year when the current administration together with the County Assembly revived the matter and set aside funds to fast track the process.

The beneficiaries of the land could not hide their joy given that this is a process they have awaited for many years. They say that dispensation of titles will bring to an end many disputes that have been witnessed within the land, some of which have been deadly.

“We would like to thank Governor Anne Waiguru for coming to our aid. We will now be able to invest in the land or even subdivide for our children since we will get title deed,” said a jubilant Rosaline Mbugua.

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