Isiolo: Family left stranded with no place to bury kin after soldiers lay claim to land

The soldiers are laying claim to over 10,000 hectares of the land between Lewa River and Isiolo River, which would displace over 20,000 people, six primary schools, three secondary schools and three dispensaries in a bid to expand their training base, a move that has met resistance from the locals who are accusing the KDF of forcibly evicting them from their ancestral land. 

The locals who claim to have occupied the land since 1922, say that the soldiers only arrived in the area in 1981 and were allocated 100 hectares by elders so that they could set up their training camp. Following a 30 days’ eviction notice issued by the soldiers in September 2019, the locals moved to court and obtained an injunction, stopping the military officers from evicting the locals pending hearing and determination of the case, but area residents allege that the soldiers keep extending the boundary despite the court’s directive.

Isiolo County Assembly deputy speaker David Lemantile, Leader of Majority Abdirashid Ali Diba and Burat Ward MCA Nicholas Lorot visited the area on Thursday and condemned the move by soldiers to bar locals from burying their kin in the area.

The eight affected villages include Elsa Ntirim, Kambi Sheikh, Ngisoro, Kabarnet, Leparua, Akadeli, Kakili and Bulesdima, with a combined population of more than 20,000 people.

Esekon Kirion, an elder from Kakili village, said residents have been suffering due to the dispute.

“The body of Eipa has been lying at the Isiolo Hospital Mortuary for a week now due to the dispute,” he said.

He wondered what will happen to the other bodies already buried on the contested land.