Shadowy cartels eye UN sacco land in Mavoko

Thousands of households risk losing their pieces of land following a tussle between two notorious Mavoko cartels and a housing co-operative society over a 103-acre piece on the outskirts of Nairobi.

The two cartels, Mlolongo Brothers Association and Syokimau/Mavoko Community Association, are accused of encroaching on a multi-billion-shilling piece of land belonging to Habitat Housing Co-operative Society (HHCSL) which has, among its members, present and former staff of the United Nations offices in Gigiri, Nairobi.

The society, directly and through its lawyers, has made reports to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the National Land Commission and Athi River police of attempts by officials of the two associations to illegally divide and sell to unsuspecting residents the society’s property (LR 7815/10) on Mombasa Road at the junction to Daystar University.

ROUGHED UP

On March 2, the society published a caveat in newspapers cautioning the public against being duped into buying or entering into an agreement for the sale of portions of the land.

“Anyone engaging in the purported purchase or sale of the above property is doing so at his/her own risk of loss and prosecution,” the society said.

In the letter to the NLC dated March 1, society chairman Dominic Mwendwa cited two incidents where gangs were sent to the property and roughed up its consultants.

“On February 2, Habitat Housing Coop Society Ltd consultants conducting a topographical survey of our land were confronted and chased by a rowdy group of about 20 people on motorcycles and vehicles. Athi River OCS Peter Kiema was notified and officers sent to the site found that the goons had left," Mr Mwendwa said in the letter.

SAND

"On February 12, the consultants returned to the site under police protection and completed their work. But goons later that evening plucked out the markers placed by this team.”

The second incident was on March 1 when the land was invaded by people who were surveying the boundaries.

The Sunday Nation has seen pictures of boundary markers said to have been placed by people linked to the two associations.

There are also heaps of sand and water bottles lying about on the land, which the trespassers were reportedly using as boundary markers.

INVESTIGATIONS

Mr Maria Mbeneka, a lawyer, in the letter addressed to DCI, named the leaders of the two associations as Pius Musembi and a Mr Mwamuli, representing Mlolongo Brothers Association and Syokimau/Mavoko Community Association respectively.

“Our instructions are that there is a deliberate attempt by two individuals, namely Pius Musembi and a Mr Mwamuli...to enter, trespass and illegally divide our clients’ property,” the lawyer said in the letter to DCI director George Kinoti and copied to the Interior and Lands cabinet secretaries.

“The purpose of this letter is to, therefore, request the swift intervention of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to commence investigations into this matter, which should result in the arrest of persons interfering with the peaceful possession of our client’s property,” the letter added.

OFFICERS

Contacted, Mr Mwamuli denied invading the land but did not refute his group’s interest to the property.

“The local DCI office has called me and I have explained to them that I was not involved but there is more to this matter,” he said.

In the letter to Athi River Sub-County Administration Police, the society requested four armed officers to secure the property for 24 hours.

A section of the land being fought over has been earmarked by the society for putting up more than 5,000 two and three-bedroom houses, a school, a hospital, a commercial centre and other amenities, a project valued at Sh60 billion.

MARAUGING GANGS

NLC Deputy Commissioner Abigael Mbagaya Mukolwe said the ownership of the property was not in doubt.

"What we are experiencing is the invasion of private property by marauding gangs. As a commission, we have the ability to determine the rightful owner even from as many titles and claimants on the same property with certainty. If anybody has another title to the land, he should present it to the commission for verification. We do have the expertise to do so,” she said.
“Invasion of public or private property is illegal. We cannot allow anarchy in the land sector. Invasions must stop for they never delivered ownership of land to anyone.”

HOUSE LOANS

HHCSL was among the 35 saccos that in June 2017 signed up to offer interest-free house loans under the Africa Tenancy Purchase Initiative (ATPI) scheme.

The programme has the backing of the World Bank, UN-Habitat, Stanlib, Property Dynamics, Cooperative Bank, Shelter Afrique as well as saccos throughout Africa.

It is not the first time these land companies have been in the news.

In 2011, heavy government construction equipment demolished pricey houses in Syokimau.

The houses had been built on land belonging to Kenya Airports Authority but which were sold to unsuspecting Kenyans by shadowy land buying companies in Mavoko, among them Mlolongo Brothers Association.

ARRESTED

Meanwhile, Syokimau/Mavoko Community Association, has been having a long-running tussle over 1,300 acres with East African Portland Cement company.

In February 2017, three people were killed and more than 100 arrested when fighting broke out over the land.