By Our Reporter
Kajiado County Chief Registrar of Lands Paul Tunoi has warned brokers orchestrating land fraud and stealing millions of shillings from unsuspecting land buyers.
Tunoi said unscrupulous land dealers were the cause of summering land ownership conflicts.
He was speaking at Olkeri Group Ranch in Kajiado West Sub –County, where officials were elected in readiness for transitioning of the ranch into community land.
Mr Tonui in collaboration with South Rift Association of land owners (Soralo), National land Commision (NLC) county land officials oversaw peaceful election of 15 officials.
For the first time Maasai women and youths were elected into the board positions that have in the past been a preserve for men.
Over 900 members voted at Magadi, where hundreds of jubilant locals used the queue voting system head count to elect officials and mark the new beginning.
Tunoi said the transition will help resolve conflicts that have rocked group ranches.
He added that land use, development and
management will be decided by members and all decisions will be adopted by two
thirds of registered members.
“The previous land management committees used to enrich themselves at
the expense of members with some going to the extent of conducting illegal
subdivisions and selling community land,” said Tunoi.
He said land brokers will be kicked out of the land registry system to bring
sanity at the lands office.
Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission officers (EACC) raided the Ngong registry
on 7th November last year and arrested 14 staff members.
They allegedly confiscated fake title deeds, stamps and cash stashed in the office and vehicles belonging to the officers, prompting to its indefinite closure. The newly elected chairman Thomas Metian said his team will spearhead changes in line with the constitution and bring sanity in community owned land.
Community land act No 27 of 2016 requires that all group ranches transit to community land where land registration, management and protection is regulated by a well-defined constitution, making regulations legally binding.
The 24,000 acres Olkeri land became the first ranch to comply with the law and transit into community land.
Kajiado County has 15 group ranches out which10 were been subdivided but the exercise was riddled with massive corruption by government officials with non-members among beneficiaries.