Garissa County leaders threaten to sue KDF over pastoral land

Politics and policy

KDF soldiers patrol Garissa Town. Garissa County leaders claim that the army is using community land to build a barracks. PHOTO | FILE 

By ABDIMALIK HAJIR, ahajir@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The county leaders claim the army wants to use the land to establish a military barracks in the area.
• The Sankuri ward MCA claimed KDF has been allocated the land which is between Modika and Garissa town.

A section of local leaders in Garissa County has threatened to move to court to stop the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) from further fencing off community land over what they termed as an infringement on their right to ownership.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Garissa Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) and parliamentarians swore to use their oversight role in the county to ensure the land - which they said is a lifeline for pastoralists in the area - is not occupied by the military.

Balambala Member of parliament (MP) Abdikadir Aden said he was deeply concerned about the alleged ‘grabbing’ of land by KDF in his constituency it belonged to the community.

“The said land is community land and it’s unacceptable for anyone to grab without consent from local community. It’s a grazing land...about 40 square kilometres,” the ODM lawmaker said.

Mr Aden called upon the army to stop the alleged infringement, saying that local leaders would consider moving to court next week to seek redress on the matter.

Sankuri ward MCA Abdiwahab Suleiman said local residents one day woke up to vehicles ferrying materials for fencing the land without any consultation with the local residents and their leaders.

Mr Suleiman said they had engaged with all relevant government agencies to find out who was behind the said projects before getting information that the land was allegedly meant to be a military barracks.

“We cannot afford to lose this land because it is where pastoralists graze their land and it has got water point for their livestock; local community and their leaders were not consulted. Even if the government wants to acquire certain land there is law and procedure to be followed,” he told journalists.

The Sankuri ward MCA claimed KDF has been allocated the land which is between Modika and Garissa town.

On a visit to the area, journalists found that there was a beehive of activity with ongoing construction of a fence which local herders said has so far been extended to two kilometres.