This archive report was first published on 7 August 2020.
Kenya Defence Forces Embroiled in Land Dispute in Uasin Gishu County ¶
On August 6, 2020, Colonel Zipporah Kioko, the Kenya Defence Forces Spokesperson, revealed that the military was investigating a case involving a family in Uasin Gishu County who defied warnings issued to them in a fight for possession of land.
The family, who have been involved in a tussle with the Kenya Defence Forces Recruits Training College for over 40 years, were forced to bury their kin at 5 a.m. to avoid confrontations with the KDF, who are seeking to repossess the land.
This is the fourth time the family has had to bury a relative in the land during the wee hours of the morning before the soldiers begin patrolling the area.
"Military men in full combat gear have been visiting our homes, giving us directions that we should not bury anyone in the farm," a spokesperson of the family lamented while speaking with the Standard.
The Kenya Defence Forces have been embroiled in several battles with firms and individuals over land in Uasin Gishu County for several years.
As reported in 2018, questions were raised over how a firm claiming to represent squatters obtained a title deed of 4,000 acres of Kenya Defence Forces land.
Detected by the Land Fraud Investigation Unit, vital documents were seized, and the sub-division of the land was blocked.
Additionally, in the same year, the defence ministry urged Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti to investigate how fake title deeds were issued to individuals.
