Residents of Kisiriri village in Rumuruti, Laikipia County, have vowed to resist eviction from a 2,192-acre parcel of land they describe as their ancestral home, amid an ongoing ownership dispute before the courts.
The residents claim an investor is seeking to take over the disputed land and allege that local administrators and brokers are facilitating the process. They say an eviction would displace thousands of people who depend on the land for homes and farming.
Kisiriri residents are calling on the government to intervene and resolve the dispute through the courts and dialogue, insisting that they should not be evicted while the legal proceedings over the land remain unresolved.
Residents of Kisiriri village in Rumuruti Sub-county, Laikipia County, have vowed to resist eviction from a 2,192-acre parcel of land they describe as their ancestral home, amid a long-running ownership dispute that is currently before the courts.
The residents claim efforts are underway to remove them from the land to pave the way for an investor to take over the property.
They maintain that their families have lived and farmed on the land for generations and have challenged attempts to portray them as pastoralists, saying they are predominantly farmers whose livelihoods depend on the disputed parcel.
The land is identified as LR No. 24/26 and the dispute includes proceedings before the Court of Appeal in Nyeri, according to the residents.
Residents say they have occupied the land for decades and fear an eviction would leave hundreds of families without homes or sources of livelihood.
Antony Lolonyokie, a Kisiriri resident who said he has lived in the area for 45 years, said he raised his children on the land.
“We are being pushed because they want to take our land,” Lolonyokie said.
He claimed the original owner of the property died in 1957 and that their parents were subsequently allowed to settle and farm on the land.
The residents say they do not have the financial capacity to purchase the property if it is offered for sale, arguing that such an arrangement would effectively displace families that have lived on the land for generations.
The residents said tensions escalated after a local administrator allegedly issued a notice requiring them to vacate the land.
Elizabeth Lengethe, another resident, claimed police officers were subsequently deployed to the area.
“We have not received the notice, and the police are harassing us,” Lengethe said.
Residents, however, said they had not personally received the alleged eviction notice.
Another resident, Moses Lengerde, said the community was concerned that an eviction could take place while the land dispute remained before the courts.
Lengerde claimed that five police vehicles were brought to the area during what residents described as an attempted eviction, but the villagers refused to leave.
The claims concerning the alleged eviction notice and police deployment could not be independently verified.
The villagers have also raised concerns over what they described as an alleged agreement by some local residents to surrender the disputed land to an investor.
They questioned the authenticity of the purported agreement, saying the wider community had not consented to any transfer of their settlement.
Residents further accused local administrators and brokers of facilitating efforts to transfer the land to an investor.
Wilson Leshau, a resident and village leader, said about 3,000 villagers were affected by the dispute.
Leshau said the community lodged a complaint in court on April 28, 2018, but claimed the matter had yet to be resolved.
“We see no need of having an investor here,” he said, while accusing local brokers and administrators of colluding with the investor.
The allegations remain claims by the residents and have not been independently established.
The residents have called on the President and the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration to intervene and visit the area to understand the dispute.
They have also called for the transfer of the local administrator whom they accuse of supporting attempts to remove them from the land.
Leshau questioned whether the interests of an individual could override those of the wider community.
“We want to know who is more powerful between the people and a single individual,” he said.
The residents have insisted that they will remain on the land and continue defending what they consider their ancestral home.
“We will not give our land to anyone. They have no court order to evict people,” one resident said.
The residents' concerns come as the ownership and use of the disputed parcel remain the subject of legal proceedings.
They argue that any attempt to evict them before the conclusion of the court process would undermine their right to have the dispute determined through the judicial process.
The community is therefore calling for authorities to allow the courts to determine ownership and related claims rather than resorting to force.
The residents have also appealed for dialogue between the parties as a way of preventing further escalation of tensions.
The dispute comes against the backdrop of a rapidly changing agricultural landscape in the wider Rumuruti area.
The region has witnessed the expansion of commercial agriculture, including farms and greenhouses, with flower-growing operations and other agricultural enterprises occupying large areas of land.
The transformation has increased the economic value of agricultural land in the area while also highlighting longstanding questions around land ownership, settlement and access.
For Kisiriri residents, however, the disputed 2,192 acres represent more than an economic asset.
They say the land is where their families have lived, raised children and earned their livelihoods for generations.
The villagers have urged the government and other stakeholders to resolve the dispute through the courts and dialogue rather than through eviction or force.
They say removing families from the land before the dispute is resolved could have significant social and economic consequences, particularly for households that depend on farming.
As the legal process continues, residents remain adamant that they will not voluntarily leave the land they consider their ancestral home.
The dispute now places the courts, government authorities, residents and alleged investors at the centre of a complex land ownership question, with the community calling for a transparent and lawful resolution that protects affected families while respecting the ongoing judicial process.