No records of how Karen land changed hands, Ministry says

The tussle for ownership of the controversial 134 acres prime Karen land has taken a new twist after the Ministry of Lands yesterday said it could not give a complete account on how the land changed hands over the years.

Records at the ministry fail to show how the land which was first registered in 1919, changed ownership between 1957 and 1983. This gap in the ownership transfer, according to Lands Secretary Charity Ngilu, is a roadblock to investigations on who the real owners are.

“Our records do not show clearly what happened at the time (1957 to 1983) until we see two companies -Muchanga Investments Ltd and Telesource Com Ltd – both laying claim to the land,” she said. Prior to the two coming on board, the land was owned by Arnold Bradley and family (as at 1957) under the name Kikangati Mines.

“I may not be able to give complete history on the parcel of land because the Criminal Investigative Department and the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission are running investigations on the matter,” she told the National assembly Committee on Land.

The members of parliament had pressed the CS to explain how as the accounting officer at the Ministry she had not managed to get full information about the land from her Chief Registrar.

“This purported gap completely mutilates the process of land registry we are running in this country. It is only the Chief Registrar who knows owners of that land during that period,” said George Oner, MP for Rangwe.

The Ministry was given a period of seven days to furnish the Committee with relevant documents showing how ownership of the Karen land was transferred over the years. Committee chairman Alex Muiru said Kenyans had a right to know what transpired between 1957 and 1983.

“It is out of order to say you do not have copies of documents about the land since government institutions (EACC and CID) are conducting investigations with the original ones,” said Mr Muiru.

READ: Buyers of controversial Karen land vow to stay put

A week ago, the National Lands Commission Chairman Mohamed Swazuri appeared before the same Committee claiming government agencies were frustrating efforts to bring closure to the Karen land saga.

Mr Swazuri said despite the NLC writing to several government agencies including the CID, Registrar of Titles and Kenya Surveyors, it was only the Director for Physical Planning who had responded. He is expected to hand in a report on the investigations to the Committee in the course of the week.