CS Wahome reveals contentious 4,700-acre land in Maasai Mara irregularly acquired

Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome now says the contentious 4,700-acre Olkiombo Ranch within the Maasai Mara Game Reserve was irregularly acquired.

Speaking when she appeared before the National Assembly Lands Committee, CS Wahome said the land records were questionable.

The CS revealed that the land was not surveyed before a certificate of ownership was issued to Narok Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu’s brother, Livingston Kunini Ntutu.

The land tussle, which has been in and out of court for close to three decades, moved to Parliament, where fresh revelations emerged.

Lands Director Survey Weldon Maritim said: “It is not possible, only for this case that I have seen now, that there was a registration of a parcel of land that is not supported by any survey, and that is why from our side we have declared that this parcel is foreign to us.”

The revelations from the Ministry of Lands raised more questions than answers, with the Members of Parliament questioning the credibility of the documents in possession of Kunini Ntutu, who won a court case earlier in the year, allowing him to collect revenue from the parcel of land.

“As long as the CS did not go with what we wanted her to do, she has given you the last nail in the coffin. The survey does not exist, so we don’t have a land number 155. I think this is a closed case,” said Kirinyaga Central MP Joseph Gitari.

Kaloleni MP Paul Katana on his part said, “You can use this one now in the litigation so the CS has really helped you and the committee that we now have a strong case and Kenyans.”

In her response, CS Wahome said, “Survey preceded the registrations so it speaks for itself…If there are no survey records, then there is a problem; sometimes documents can be misplaced, but in this case it didn’t exist.”

The land, which has been the subject of close to 30 years of litigation between a section of the Maasai community in Narok County and Kunini, is currently before the Court of Appeal.

Elsewhere, hundreds of residents from Orkinyie in Narok South staged protests against the grabbing of 119 acres of land by allegedly influential persons in government.

“This was done illegally, unprocedurally and unofficially,” Orkinyie resident Amos Koisikir in Narok South said.

The residents presented a formal petition at the Deputy County Commissioner’s office in South Narok, warning that they will return to the streets in less than two weeks if the matter is not addressed.