Taita villagers to get millions in KAA land compensation – Weekly Citizen

Officials from National Land Commission are set to conduct a valuation exercise in Taita-Taveta county for 12 land parcels that were irregularly fenced off by Kenya Airports Authority and given to Ikanga Airstrip in Voi subcounty.
It is expected that after the exercise, the NLC will give directions to KAA on amounts to be paid to owners of each parcel in an exercise that will bring to an end the protracted land dispute between the airport authority and local residents.
According to county NLC official Dennis Mutungi, the valuers will visit the affected land at Ikanga area to establish how much they are worth for purposes of buying them from their owners.

Mwaruma

He added that after acquiring the parcels, KAA would be the legitimate owners of the land.
The authority has been embroiled in a bitter controversy with over 55 residents who accused it of illegally extending the boundaries of the Sh300 million airstrip.
The residents claimed that while erecting a fence around the airstrip, 15 parcels of privately-owned land were fenced off, rendering the affected residents landless.
A ground-verification report from the county lands office dated April 4 2018 confirmed that KAA had illegally fenced off the disputed land parcels during the process of securing the airstrip land from land-grabbers in 2015.
The report further disclosed that the runway at the airstrip measured 580 metres against the original length of 520 metres as cited in the designs. The runway also had a width of 102 metres against the approved width of 50 metres.
A road adjacent to the airstrip was also partially closed by the fencing cutting off residents from accessing their farms.
In May this year after Governor Granton Samboja and senator Jones Mwaruma petitioned senate committee on lands, environment and natural resources, the senate committee toured the area to verify the claims of encroachment by KAA. Led by the committee chairman Mwangi Githiomi, the members received a petition from the affected residents who demanded for compensation from KAA.
The committee chair said that KAA should move with speed to compensate the local residents which would help operationalise the airstrip that has been idle owing to the longdrawn conflict.
There are reports that KAA might approach the local residents for extra land so as to create a buffer zone between residents’ homes and the facility as a safety precaution during plane take-offs and landings.