Kiambu squatters urge Lands Ministry to settle them after 30-year wait

More than 1,500 squatters living on a 400-acre parcel of state land in Kiambu County for over 30 years have appealed to the Lands Ministry for settlement.

Led by Kamiti Forest Squatters Association Chairman Philip Makau Kitavi, they urged Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome to intervene, lamenting a 31-year delay in justice despite a 1994 decree by former President Daniel arap Moi to degazette the land and settle them.

Kitavi said Moi allocated them 419 acres after former Githunguri MP Arthur Magugu raised concerns that the forest had become a hideout for criminals.

He noted that the land was given to their parents, many of whom were forestry department employees and have since died.

However, he claimed cartels have invaded the area and started selling it.

He urged CS Wahome to visit the squatters and resolve the matter.

Fatuma Boru, a mother of seven, decried the hardships they face, saying most squatters are unemployed.

“When Moi gave us the land, I was a young girl with no children. Now, I am a mother of seven. I ask President Ruto to hear our cry and help us,” she said.