This archive report was first published on 7 November 2019.
November 7, 2019, marked a turning point for Kihiu Mwiri Farmers Company shareholders when President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the issuance of title deeds. However, four years down the line, most shareholders are disillusioned, with many accusing the government of fraud.
According to Harun Njoroge, chairman of the Kihiu Mwiri Residents Association, the president was misled by government officials and area administration to believe that the title deeds issue had been settled. Njoroge claims that the 3,000 titles issued were given to 156 shareholders who owned multiple plots and had the cash to pay the Sh85,000 per plot demanded by government agents and brokers as survey, visits, and titling fees.
The residents association chairman also alleged that the president was misled to believe that Kihiu Mwiri land was 1,269 acres, while the pioneers of the company had declared the total land as 5,804 acres in 2009. He further claimed that the company owned land in Murang'a, Machakos, and Kiambu counties, but the presidential titling programme only centered on some of the land in Murang'a.
The double tragedy in their plight is that even the families that lost their loved ones in the fight for control of the company have not received justice. Four directors were murdered, and tens of other people disappeared without trace. Josphat Kibe Nyoike and Zakary Chege Kiratu were murdered on July 7, 2015; Paul Muhuhi Bernard on July 28, 2015; and Peter Kimani Kuria on May 10, 2016.
