Parliament Team Confronts ADC Over 250,000 Acre Galana Kulalu Land Dispute After Top Officials Skip Meeting

Members of the National Assembly departmental committee on land are demanding action to be taken against the Agricultural Development Corporation management for failing to appear before it over a 250,000 acre land in Tana River and Kilifi Counties.

The committee led by its vice chairperson and Wajir Women Representative Fatuma Jehow had visited the ADC Galana Kulalu land offices and Bombi and Marafa areas in Kilifi County to check on the progress made in subdivision and distribution of the parcel of land to residents but the acting Managing Director Wilson Tonui skipped the parliamentary session.

ADC owns more than 1.8 million acres in Tana River and Kilifi Counties and it has released part of the land to the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) for the Galana Kulalu Food Security Project that started in 2013.

The committee that had travelled for more than three hours from Malindi to the ADC offices at Danisa area in Galana Kulalu ranch was shocked to only find junior staff despite being accompanied by officials from the National Land Commission (NLC) and ministry of lands officers.

“As the chair of this committee, I want to adjourn this meeting and I ask the clerk to right a letter to the CS, PS and the MD so that they appear before the committee within seven days,” said Jehow.

She also asked the clerk to furnish the committee with a report table in the 12th parliament so that it can guide the committee on the way forward.

“It’s also disappointing that the acting MD for failing to appear and it implies that a lot is happening at ADC and we will dig more. A communication was done on 17th of November and it means the acting MD had a lot of time to communicate his availability and it’s very unfair to the parliament of this country to come all the way from Nairobi and to find him not available and we will not take that lightly,” she added.

Members of the committee who accompanied Jehow included chairman Joash Nyamoko, Josses Kipitoi Lelmengit, Joseph Gachoki Gitari, Mathias Nyamabe Robi, Omar Mwinyi Shimbwa, Rachael Kaki Nyamai, and Ali Wario.

Wario said that after a public outcry in the past, the President Mwai Kibaki government compelled ADC to give out the 250,000 acres as one way of ending the wrangles between residents and ADC.

“People made noise then President Kibaki in his wisdom said that he will give residents of Kilifi and Tana River counties 250,000 acres from Galana Kulalu ranch and ADC itself demarcated the land and the former manager of ADC Galana Kulalu ranch is the one who showed the community elders the cutlines and demarcated areas but today, ADC is disowning its process, it is a shame,” he said.

In Bombi village, residents claimed that they were being harassed by ADC security personnel and their animals confiscated and they are forced to pay for their release.

The Bombi issue has even turned violent in the past with journalists Nehemiah Okwembah and Reuben Ogachi escaping with serious injuries after they were attacked by General Service Unit (GSU) officers stationed at the expansive farm when they were investigating the matter in 2015.

Yakub Hussein told the committee at Bombi primary school grounds that release of the 250,000 acre piece of land will be a reprieve for them as pastoralists since their animals will have direct access to the Galana river without going through the ADC land.

“We were given this grazing corridor of 250,000 acres so that they can be subdivided and we get title deeds and part of it be grazing land but ADC has refused to honor directives of the President to release the land,” he said.

In Marafa, Waata community elders claimed that ADC was laying claim on several villages including Chamari, Adu, Kamale, Kasikini and Bungale and had even installed fresh cutlines.

Jacob Kokani, the community spokesperson told the community at Marafa social hall that Adu village which is the home of Senate Speaker Amason Kingi was not spared including seral government installations like schools, dispensaries and administration offices.

The MPs also listened to petitions from residents of Chakama who are protesting skewed adjudication and titling processes where original residents only got 25 percent of the title deeds produced and want the whole process revoked and start afresh.