The land around the Waitiki Farm costs Sh40 million per acre with the ongoing issuance of titles handing those who may wish to sell an opportunity to cash-in handsomely.
Land secretary Jacob Kaimenyi on Friday said this value is way above the Sh182,000 that the settlers have to pay for the plots whose titles they are receiving.
The 780-acre farm was recently purchased by the government and distributed among thousands of settlers who invaded it decades ago. Some 5,007 lease titles out of the total of 7,807 have already been processed and are being issued out.
“It should be noted that according to the valuation done by the government valuer, the average market value for each parcel is above the Sh182,000 charged by the government,” Prof Kaimenyi said.
“Indeed, it has been observed that an acre of land situated within the same area without encumbrances is selling at Sh40 million.”
Prof Kaimenyi said that the plot owners have to pay the Sh182,000 which is to cover for the amount the government used to purchase the land and the processing fee.
The farm which was owned by Evanson Waitiki was illegally invaded by persons who started subdividing it amongst themselves and unsuspecting individuals in 1997.
Thousands have since settled on the farm and the government last year decided to buy the land from Mr Waitiki and formalise the settlements by dividing the land and issuing titles.
“Since the occupiers are neither ordinary squatters nor poor landless Kenyans, it would not make sense for the government to spend taxpayers’ money to acquire land that has been obtained illegitimately and distribute it to the beneficiaries of this illegality for free,” Prof Kaimenyi said.
He said 2,800 titles for plots in the farm are yet to be processed because the owners are unknown.
Prof Kaimenyi added that some of them have also been held back by family disputes and inadequate information on the beneficiaries like identity card numbers.
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