Land grabbing in Kitale prompts National Security Council action
Western
By
Obare Osinde
| Jul 29, 2025
The National Security Council is set to convene to discuss the persistent grabbing of public and private prime land in Kitale, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said.
He directed the local County Commissioner, Gideon Oyagi, to compile a comprehensive report on the land grabbing menace and submit it to his office to guide the NSC on possible actions.
Speaking during the Jukwaa La Usalama forum in Kitale, Murkomen said cartels have taken over prime national, county government, and private parcels of land.
The land cartels, the CS said, work with land officials to fraudulently acquire prime public land, including Kitale Museum, and have employed gangs to guard and protect the grabbed land.
READ MORE
KPA rolls out E-procurement to boost transparency
Epra on the spot for 'siding' with big oil firms in cooking gas row
What hotels can do to reduce high number labour disputes
Architects, engineers to get indemnity cover after new pact
Why interior design now sells homes faster in Kenya
Why wood prices are set to double in Kenya's construction, furniture sectors
Rising high: How Nyeri's real estate boom is empowering the juakali sector
Rush for land along Mt Kenya highway as investors eye hospitality boom
Customs agents fight to stay afloat in choppy logistics sector waters
“Land grabbing is chronic in Kitale. Unfortunately, cartels have taken over prime land belonging to the national and county governments as well as the private sector.
“Imagine someone is claiming ownership of the space where the county commissioner’s offices stand, and even the county government headquarters,” he said.
A comprehensive report by the local administration, the CS said, would guide which appropriate action the NSC would take to address the menace.
He put corrupt land officials on notice and vowed to ensure that those found to have aided individuals in fraudulently acquiring public land would be prosecuted and jailed.
“As a government, we are not going to sit and watch individuals forcefully take land that does not belong to them. We are going to use the highest-level mechanisms to act and stop this vice,” he added.
Apart from the land grabbing, the CS said he was perturbed by the runaway insecurity, exacerbated by unchecked drug abuse and the sale of counterfeit alcohol, and directed local security agencies to act decisively and arrest the situation.