NAIROBI, Kenya, April 14 – The Parliamentary Select Committee on Public Petition discussed yesterday a petition raised by Nyatike MP Tom Odege on the delayed allocation of land to squatters.
The petition seeks to address delayed adjudication and settlement of squatters following the expiration of the lease of Macalder Mines Ltd.’s land in Nyatike.
The Ernest Kagesi (Vihiga)-led committee inquired why the squatters should receive the land despite not being the rightful owners of the property.
According to the petitioner, the squatters’ ancestors have inhabited the land since 1935, and they have no other place they call home apart from the current one.
The petitioner asserted that Macalder Mines land is the only ancestral land of the squatters.
The Committee, however, noted that the Macalder Mines land lease is set to expire in 2035, and the squatters can remain on the land till then.
It proceeded to counter that, as per the law, a squatter can have claim to a piece of land if they have lived there uninterruptedly for over 12 years.
Ogede requested that all allotted leases on the land be terminated and the process be restarted.
He also requested that the committee engage the Ministry of Lands to ensure that the Macalder Mines are re-adjudicated to allow the owners to acquire title deeds and save the residents from alleged erroneous and missing records.
The chair of the session reassured the petitioner that the committee would carry out thorough due diligence on the matter and take appropriate administrative action.
