The government has distributed 1022 title deeds to residents of Leshuta and Naikkarra group ranches in Narok West Sub County.
Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko who led the distribution exercise said the government was committed to distributing over 1million title deeds in one week.
He praised President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration for distributing over six million title deeds in his tenure as president as opposed to only five million title deeds that were given since independence.
“My fellow Cabinet Secretaries are in all parts of the country issuing title deeds to the residents. The government is committed to ensure all residents who own land in Kenya possess a title deed as it is the only proof for land ownership,” he said.
Tobiko reiterated that the president was committed to protecting forest land from encroachment citing the Maasai Mau forest where over ten thousand families were evicted from the forest land.
“The president and his handshake partner Raila Odinga authorised me to evict all the encroachers from the forest land, an idea that was opposed by many leaders. However, because of their commitment, the land was rescued and is now regenerating slowly,” he said.
He was accompanied by Narok County Commissioner Isaac Masinde and Narok North MP who is aspiring for the gubernatorial seat on an ODM ticket Moitalel Ole Kenta.
Masinde called on the residents to utilise the title deeds given well by investing in their pieces of land so as to grow economically.
He cushioned residents against selling their pieces of land without the consent of all the family members saying the land board will not allow sale of land where all the family members are not brought on board.
“I spend a lot of time resolving land related cases in my office which could be avoided if all the members of the family are involved in land sale. I ask residents to refrain from selling their pieces of land and instead invest to earn more money,” said the commissioner.
On his part, the gubernatorial aspirant Moitalel Ole Kenta warned residents that the sale of land was making residents more vulnerable as children were left landless with nowhere to build their home.
He called on the Maa community to be vigilant when making land transactions to avoid being deceived by dissemblers who take advantage of illiterate people to buy the land at a throw away price.
“I have had many cases where residents who want to lease their land for a few years are instead given the sale agreement forms to sign and their land is transferred to other people without their consent,” he said.
He promised to protect the forest land and public land from grabbers if elected to be the governor of the county in the August 9th general elections.
