National Lands commission (NLC) has been called upon to intervene and solve a 2 acre land ownership row between Lmutaro Primary school in Samburu County and her neighboring community.
This is after area elders, county government and local administration failed to amicably resolve the issue in which a portion of the 8.7 acres owned by the school is being claimed by the community.
The community claimed that though they donated land for establishment of a learning institution, the school management has illegally extended the boundaries to private land without consulting owners. They however could not tell the size of the donated land.
“People are using the school to forcefully take away land from a person who voluntarily donated his land for establishment of the school and that is not right,” said Solomon Wanyeki, a resident.
He alleged that there was neither mapping nor beaconing of the land that was donated to the school.
The school’s chairman Simon Lemeteki however said the institution legally owns the land that is being claimed by the community.
“The school has a letter from the former county council authorizing it to own the 8.7 acre piece of land. We demarcated the land but a conflict ensued later as we prepared to fence it,” he said.
Maralal location chief Dominic Lemapara said they will soon hold a meeting with officers from the ministry of land and county commissioner to find a lasting solution to the problem.
“We have received complaints from the community. The school is supposed to have 8.7 acres but the land has decreased to between six and five acres on estimation. We will soon hold a meeting so that we can solve this problem in a fair manner,” he said.
By Robert Githu
