The Taita-Taveta County Assembly has taken a bold step in demanding the reversal of a three-acre land allocated to the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) in 1996.
The disputed land at Vuria Hill in Taita Hills was allocated to the KBC by the then Taita-Taveta County Council and Land Control Board. However, residents claim that the parcel was part of the land set aside as a conservation area and was illegally taken over by KBC.
According to minutes of the Town Planning Committee meeting held on March 22, 1995, the county council resolved that KBC was ready to pay rent and rates accordingly. However, a letter from the District Lands Officer dated January 21, 1997, stated that the Commissioner of Lands transferred the parcel to KBC on a freehold basis, which the residents and leaders vehemently opposed.
MCAs in the assembly have questioned the circumstances that led to the transfer of the land to the State broadcaster. In a motion sponsored by MCA Anselim Mwadime, the county executive has been given the go-ahead to pursue court proceedings and other channels to revert the land to the community.
“It is evident that the resolution of the defunct council of leasing the subject plot to KBC was blatantly ignored and the land was registered as a freehold interest, leading to revenue losses by both the defunct council and the succeeding Taita-Taveta County Government,” says the motion.
