Embulbul B Community Borehole Was Sunk in Land Whose Title Deed Was Under the Custody of a Bank
In 2016 a borehole was sunk in the land of Geoffrey Kariuki Mutungu through the ward development fund under the County Government of Kajiado. This followed a proposal by the Bulbul B residents who requested to have their own source of water. The Area Community Water Committee identified two locations in the area which were being sold. The first plot documents were in order but they were advised by experts the water in that area was salty. They opted for the second plot owned by Mr Geoffrey Kariuki Mutungu. On 3rd June 2016, the Bulbul B water committee signed a contract agreeing to purchase Mr Kariuki’s plot which is an eighth for Ksh3.3 Million. The contract was signed on behalf of the community by Rev. James Wanjau, under the commissioner of Oath, Rumba Kinuthia and Co Advocates in Ngong. One year and 8 months later Mr Kariuki told our reporter he has not yet been paid his dues, and the land in which the borehole lies has been marked as part of the mandatory acquisition for the SGR project. Mr Kariuki said “I agreed to sell the land to pay off a bank loan, but now the interest has gone up. The title deed is still under the custody of the bank” Mr Kariuki further said he sold the land to the community having fully disclosed that the titled deed was under the custody of the bank. He further said “any compensation by the sgr project should be made to me at the current market rate since I still own the land” Rev. Wanjau responding to our query confirmed indeed the committee members were aware the title deed was held in the bank but they went ahead and agreed to buy Mr Kariuki’s plot because they were concerned the allocated funds, would have been returned to the treasury at the end of the financial year i.e 30th June 2016. Instead of the community loosing the project, they requested Mr Kariuki to allow them to sink the borehole as he awaited payment. Rev. Wanjau further claimed the County Government does not pay for land without being in possession of a title deed. During a recent meeting in Nkoroi, The National Lands Commission Chairman Dr Swazuri said Sgr project compensation money for land which is under community or family dispute will be put under the custody of Kenya Railways until when the dispute will be resolved.
