Kakuzi ward residents in Murang'a County demanded on Monday, that the Ministry of Lands step in because they fear losing their land to unidentified individuals.
The homeowners disclosed that they were awaiting title deeds, following former President Uhuru Kenyatta's intervention at a meeting with local officials. As a result, the property was renamed Kenyatta Farm.
"Why would they come to grab land from such elderly women?" A resident had an inquiry. They said that although some people had not yet received their titles, others driving pricey cars had shown with identical documents, claiming ownership of the land.
Some of the victims claimed that the aforementioned, unidentified Kenyans even claimed ownership of land that was used by numerous local schools and other organizations. They disclosed that an unidentified woman had been posted to a nearby school.
One of the victims related how a woman bearing a title deed showed up at his house. One other resident disclosed that she was compelled to tear down her two-bedroom home, following multiple visits from yet another unidentified person bearing a title deed. "They used to come to my house every day with crude weapons and a title deed," she continued.
In order to prevent vulnerable Kenyans from being forced into exile, the residents encouraged Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome to clear up the misunderstanding. They also wanted to know how the other people obtained the title documents to the properties.
Notably, the Jubilee administration provided thousands of title titles to Kenyans, across who lacked the necessary paperwork to prevent widespread evictions during Uhuru's presidency.
Property snatching has increased over the past few years, with some perpetrators even going so far as to take government-owned public property that has been set aside for various development projects.
MP Alice Ng'ang'a of Thika East expressed concern in March over multiple attempts, by land grabbers to take control of a valuable plot of property that belonged to the Ministry of Public Works.
In June, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), started the process of reclaiming about Ksh1.2 billion in public land that had been taken.