Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology has been locked in a land tussle that threatens to leave the institution as a “land destitute”.
This follows a meeting between Lands and Education ministries and an entity known as Trustees of Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology which has transferred 200 acres of prime land and buildings belonging to the institution valued at sh32 billion.
In the Monday meeting, the trustees maintained they are the legitimate owners of the land but “softened” up and said they would give back 30 acres to the institution.
The Trustees said since the land belongs to them, they can subdivide it any way they want.
“Yesterday (Monday), we had a consultative meeting with the ministry of Education and Ministry of Lands where the Board of Trustees insisted that the land belongs to them and therefore they can subdivide it as they wish,” said the KIST’s Board of Management Chairman Dr Kamau Kariu as Business Daily reports.
And with the reports reaching the students, they staged a hyped demonstration protesting the alleged grabbing of the KIST’s land.
The land tussle called for intervention by political leaders from the area led by Jubilee gubernatorial nominee and Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu.
They locked the trustees’ offices and vowed to reclaim the land by all means.
Waititu noted the land is public property and no one should lay claim on it.
“KIST is public property and we will not allow greedy individuals to grab it or even reap from it. We shall push to ensure that they [Trustees] get surcharged for the loans they borrowed using the school’s property,” charged Waititu.
According to Business Daily, prominent personalities; former Commissioner of Lands and billionaire Raymond Njenga, former Chair of Kenya Association of Manufacturers Allan Ngugi and Nairobi based lawyer George Ngugi are at the center of the land tussle