NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 29 – Residents of Manzini settlement scheme in Turbo Constituency have called on the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Environment Forestry and Mining to help them find closure to their quest for title deeds.
In a meeting with the Committee held at Manzini Junior Primary School grounds today, the locals from the 19 villages of Maanzini in Turbo settlement with a population of over 120,000 people informed the Committee led by Joseph Emathe who was the team leader that they have been living in the area for the last three decades after they were given the land by the Government of Kenya.
“Many of us here have sacrificed to come to this important meeting, we want to thank God for this day, we have waited for three decades, I have personally stayed here for 31 years and our song has been about title deeds. We have people who have used this issue to swindle us, we are in pain, please get us the documents to prove ownership of land so that we can also access credit services from banks and other avenues of development”, said one of the residents, a representative of the church.
Others who spoke thanked the National Assembly leadership for allowing the Committee to visit the area to confirm that indeed they were not staying on forest land.
“We thank our lawmakers and your leadership for accepting to push this agenda so that it is put into law, many of our elders died looking for title deeds, they left us worried. People were registered in 1994 and allowed to settle here, this issue has gone to Cabinet but it is taking long, we have schools here, hospitals, a cultural center and a sub-location office, please help us get title deeds, that will give us peace and open a window for development”.
The Committee team leader Joseph Emathe noted that there was a need to handle the issue with urgency so that the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) can be allowed to fence the remaining forest area. He further called on the community to plant more trees as the Committee looks into their cries.
“We are here to see and also listen to you. The issue of de-gazettement or no de-gazettement will come from you. We have the history of this place from 1972, a similar problem is in Kakamega, therefore we are here to speak about Manzini block 4 not any other block, we received a pettition late last year, there was another petition in 1995 that did not go through, however we are committed to the recent pettition and we have 90 days to conclude this matter, we shall be tabling a report in the National Assembly after this meeting”, said Emathe.
Area MP Janet Sitienei who was also present thanked the Committee for their presence in the Manzini Turbo settlement scheme together with other stakeholders, the National Lands Commission (NLC), the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), and the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry.
She also thanked the President for showing the willingness to give title deeds to the people of Manzini Turbo by de-gazetting the area from forest land.
The Committee will be retreating to write a report that will be tabled in the National Assembly.