On the eve of Independence in 1963, the departing colonial government negotiated a scheme in which white settlers were bought out of their farms by the in-coming Kenya government.
A State agency was at pains to reveal names of people in Kenyatta Senior era including political elite, senior civil servants and business people who were settled on land bought at Sh2.8 billion.
Auditor-General Edward Ouko on Wednesday told Parliament that the Agricultural Settlement Fund Trustees has repeatedly failed to provide names of beneficiaries of the 101 land schemes that were meant for the landless.
The fund was established immediately after independence to buy large tracts of land to settle the poor after subdivision through a credit scheme aimed at offering a significant chunk of the population access to property.
But the initiative was hijacked by political elite, senior civil servants and business people who ended up owning prime land that white settlers had ceded to the government for the landless.
Mr Ouko said the fund has offered details of the land transactions in the schemes, but failed to reveal the beneficial owners.
“They have not given us the names of the specific settlers for us to verify. Giving us a list of codes and stating an amount that is owed is not helpful,” Mr Ouko told the Special Funds Accounts committee chaired by Kathuri Murungi (South Imenti MP).
This was in response to a claim by the Fund’s accountant Ndungu Kiarie that data on settlers is available and had been provided during audit.
The registry look set to offer a peep into Kenya’s most jealously guarded secrets on how land meant for poor ended up in the hands of wealthy and the elite.
On the eve of Independence in 1963, the departing colonial government negotiated a scheme in which white settlers were bought out of their farms by the in-coming Kenya government.
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