Thika MP writes to NLC demanding revocation of grabbed public land in Ngoingwa

Thika Town MP Eng. Patrick Wainaina has written to the Chief Executive Officer, National Lands Commission requesting them to revoke titles deeds obtained by unscrupulous investors on acres of public land that had been grabbed and transformed into private use.

In a letter dated 30^th November 2020, the MP singled out Thika Municipality BLOCK 20 (Ngoingwa) where public land set aside for schools, playing grounds and other social amenities had been illegally sub-divided, sold out to investors who in turn developed most of them for private use.

Wainaina’s action was necessitated following numerous outcries from the public over rampant grabbing of land meant to put up public utilities.

In his letter, the legislator requested the lands office to undertake a thorough forensic audit of the entire block, revocation of title deeds of all illegally acquired public land, the need for a lands clinic to interrogate land ownership in Thika Town Constituency and the digitization of the Thika Lands Registry. He believed that this would streamline land records at the registry, enhance land searches as well as minimise cases of land frauds in the area.

“On February 17^th 2020, my office wrote to the Lands Cabinet Secretary requesting for a lands clinic and digitization of the Thika Lands Registry which was occasioned by the upsurge in land grabbing cases within the area. This has caused endless land disputes and conflicts in most areas of Thika,” led part of the letter.

He also noted that unscrupulous land buying companies were liaising with corrupt lands officials to defraud innocent members of public.

Cases of land grabbing and land fraud in Thika and surrounding areas has been a thorn in the flesh with most victims pointing an accusing finger towards corrupt officials at the Thika Lands Registry in a well-orchestrated scheme with other civil servants, police officers, unscrupulous land brokers and surveyors.

Land grabbers in the area possess hundreds of illegal title deeds, which they use to hoodwink gullible land buyers. There is an urgent need for the Lands Ministry to expedite the audit of land buying companies in the area as most of them are connected with the land grabbing menace. The government needs to re-profile all land buying and selling firms to weed out fraudsters who have been defrauding residents.