Kirinyaga County has successfully reclaimed 800 acres of public land valued at over Ksh1 billion, following a two-year recovery campaign aimed at restoring illegally acquired parcels to public use. The recovery was confirmed by County Executive Committee Member (CEC) for Lands, Samuel Kanjombe, who revealed that the initiative has helped address the county’s shortage of public land.
“During the last two seasons of Anne Waiguru’s leadership, we were able to recover pieces of land that were grabbed and allocated to private individuals. For some, we went through court processes to recover them,” Kanjombe stated.
One of the notable recoveries includes a parcel in Kabare that had been irregularly allocated to a private individual during the transition from municipalities to counties in 2012. According to Kanjombe, the recovered plots are spread across major towns in Kirinyaga and had been taken over by influential individuals during the defunct local authorities’ era.
The county government lodged complaints with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), which conducted investigations and presented cases in court, resulting in the successful recovery of the contested land.
Kanjombe added that the reclaimed land will be utilized to address urban congestion, especially in Kutus town. “We have a problem around Kutus, particularly at the bus terminus, which is congested with buses and passengers. The recovered spaces can help ease these challenges,” he said.
Plans are underway to construct a new market on some of the recovered land to support traders affected by overcrowding in town centers.
This development follows a series of land disputes in Kirinyaga, including a controversial eviction in October last year where over 200 families were displaced from a 200-acre parcel in Kirogo belonging to the Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organisation (KALRO).
The recovery efforts mark a major step by Governor Anne Waiguru’s administration to restore public assets and promote planned urban development in Kirinyaga County.
