Kenya’s Ministry of Lands has announced plans to conduct a land clinic and digitize local land records in Thika town, Kiambu County in bid to cub the massive land frauds in the town which has seen thousands of residents losing their land to brokers and corrupt land officials through theft and double allocation.
Thika MP Patrick Wainaina confirmed the report and said the Ministry will first complete the digitization of land records in the Nairobi office, before moving into Thika lands office. Grabbers have been targeting public land such as parcels set aside for schools, police posts, hospitals, social halls, recreational facilities and land belonging to squatters, he said.
Land fraud
According to the Member of Parliament, the disreputable grabbers have been working together with corrupt officials at the county to forge land ownership documents before defrauding innocent locals of their land parcels. Mr. Wainaina also noted there have been ownership disputes and unending conflicts over land matters, especially in Kisii, Kiganjo, Kiangombe, Makongeni, Landless, Riverside, Salama and Gatuanyaga areas.
“There has been increasing complaints from residents about the grabbing of public land in many parts of the constituency. We believe the land clinic will assist to assess the ownership of diverse parcels of land in disputes as well as determining ownership of public land in all the affected areas,” said MP Wainaina.
“Even a five-acre land set aside for expansion of the Thika Water and Sewerage Company’s water treatment plant in Thika town has already been grabbed and subdivided. The land clinic will be set up in January 2021 and will be run by the Ministry of Lands,” he added.
