Njeru: Encroachers take up 600 acres of government farm

Officials at Njeru Municipal Council t0day found a hard time explaining to the commission of land inquiry circumstances under which 600 acres of land belonging to a government farm were encroached on by people.

This commission led by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire had tasked official of Njeru Municipal Council to explain how the land has been changing hands from the government to encroachers.

‘’Explain to us how you have been giving out land titles to people yet you well know that land belongs to government?" Bamugemereire queried.

She pinned Eng Robert Taitika, the Njeru town planner and other employees of Njeru Municipal Council for being part of the group for being part of the racket which gave away this land.

She said: "As a town planner you have got to plan well and map this land.’’

During the visit, the commission learnt that out of the 1066 acres of land which belonged to the stock farm earlier in 1948, only 562 acres are remaining.

The commission discovered that some individuals had built permanent houses and other development projects on the land. It interacted with some of the encroachers many of who were ignorant that they had occupied government land.

"I have been on this land for over 18years and have been grazing my animals here," said Rosemary Nyalubona Mwesigwa, one of the encroachers.

When the commission put it to her that her lease had expired in 2010, she melted into a crowd.