Structures at the Vikutsa Primary School in Kakamega County have been pulled down and a barrier constructed following land dispute land owners and the school.
Parents and learners of the school led by area MP Justus Kizito accused the family whose kin donated an 11-acre piece of land to the school in Shinyalu Constituency in 1972 of trying to repossess the property. The community claimed that the grandchildren of Amuhanda (who died in June 1987) sought to repossess the disputed land without involving the school management and locals.
โA local by the name Zacharia Amuhanda donated this land to the community for construction of a school and a church 46 years ago. He was a missionary who cherished education. We were shocked when strangers erected a barrier at the gate, ploughed the school playground and planted crops everywhere, claiming to have reclaimed the school land,โ said Benson Shibuli, a parent and former pupil at the school.
Protecting the school
โThis is a public school that has been in existence for many years. The individuals claiming ownership of this property were once pupils in this particular school. We will continue protecting the school and the land and are prepared to go to court and seek orders to overturn an earlier ruling that awarded the grandsons of Amuhanda ownership of the school land,โ said Mr Kizito.
โWhere were they all this time only to emerge 46 years later claiming ownership of a school property? We have invested CDF money here and there is no way we will let individuals grab a school at the expense of our children,โ Mr. Kizito added.
Mary Nelima, an Early Childhood Development (ECD) teacher at the institution, pleaded with the government to rescue the school. โWhere do they want us our children when schools reopen on Monday,โ she posed.
Genesis of the protracted land
A letter dated December 19, 2016, addressed to the Land Registrar, points at the genesis of the protracted land dispute that leaves the fate of more 600 learners at Vikutsa Primary and the teachers hanging in the balance. In the letter, the school accuses a former area chief, a relative of the family currently claiming ownership, of getting involved in the matter.
โIn 2010 or thereabout, the grandchildren and daughter-in-law of the late Zedekiah Amuhanda initiated the succession of the land without involving the school and the community,โ reads in part the letter signed by school headteacher.
The letter indicates the school was only made aware โupon obtaining a grant of administration, setting in motion the transfer and demarcation of the land without considering the school.โ
The family on their part insists that they would like to distribute the property, including the land occupied by the school, afresh.
โWe wish to leave the school with five acres at a fee and take away six. We want the matter to end in peace,โ said Sabeti Muteku, one of the family members.
