County Govt of Ksm takes back Taifa Park’s Title deed

 

Kisumu Governor Prof  Anyang Nyong'o{C} address the press where he announced the recovery of a public land known as Taifa Park-Photo Courtesy

By Dickson Odhiambo

June 10, 2022

County Govt of Ksm takes back Taifa Park’s Title deed

The Land Title Deed to a public property in Kisumu City has officially been taken by the County Government of Kisumu.

Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang Nyong’o says their fight against illegal acquisition of public land got a major boost after it successfully recovered a prime land measuring 1.5 acres (0.6572 ha) at the Central Business District.

 

Addressing the press in Kisumu, Nyong’o said this is public recreational land officially known as Taifa Park Block 7/240, near the Aga Khan Hall.

 

He says the land is valued at about sh 500m at the current market rates and had been grabbed by an individual.

 

“I have handed over the original title deed for this land, to the County Department of Lands for safe custody. This was one of the 39-title deeds for public property worth Ksh 5.2 billion which the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) handed over to President Uhuru Kenyatta during a ceremony at State House, Nairobi in April, 2022,” Nyong’o says

 

He says as the county Government of Kisumu, they have issued an amnesty to those holding titles for Public land.

 

At the same time, one of the unsuspecting buyers of public land belonging to Kibuye Market surrendered his ownership documents to the County.

 

Naresh Patel, a former nominated Councilor at the now defunct Kisumu Municipal Council has surrendered the ownership of the land he bought within Kibuye Market to the County Government of Kisumu.

 

Meanwhile, one of the Civil Societies Organizations activists who was in the forefront in the recovery of Taifa Park in the year 2011 Lawyer Joshua Odhiambo Nyamori has told Kisumu Governor Prof Peter Anyang Nyong’o to stop playing politics with the issue of public land in Kisumu County.

 

Nyamori says Taifa Park was reverted back to the public in 2011 and a new title issued to the then Municipal Council of Kisumu.

 

He says this followed public protests in the form of demonstrations and economic boycott by the Civil Society that forced the then Minister for Land James Orengo to cancel the illegal title deed issued to the suspected land grabbers and to issue a new title deed to the then Municipal Council of Kisumu, with a caveat that the same shall never transferred to private hands without public participation.

 

He says former District Land Registrar was jailed for facilitating the grabbing of the land.

 

“The claim that Taifa Park has just been reverted back to the public is a fraud on the public, a political gimmick. Let Prof. Nyong'o deal with the real threat to Taifa Park currently, which is the decision by his Government in the Kisumu Land Use and Physical Plan to mark Taifa Park as part of the Commercial Blocks in the CBD, which we believe is setting ground for a fresh grabbing of the park by powerful individuals,”

 

He has challenged Nyong'o to tackle the alleged grabbing of Hippo Point beach whose title deed he claims continues to be in the hands of known land grabbers with connivance from the County Government leadership.

 

Lawyer Nyamori has also urged the County Government of Kisumu to immediately publish the report by its task force on land grabbing menace in Kisumu.

He urges the County Government of Kisumu to publicly set out a timetable on how the report is be publicly reviewed and implemented in its entirety.

He claims that the report is used as an extortion mechanism by some powerful individuals from the County Government of Kisumu where some genuine land owners have fallen prey.

 

Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang Nyong’o while addressing the press in Kisumu yesterday said he will not reveal the names of the suspected public land grabbers mentioned in the report.

 Nyong'o has maintained that he will not reveal the identity of land grabbers in the county saying he wants to avoid court cases that could hamper his efforts to recover the parcels.

Governor Nyong’o is of the view that by concealing the names from the public, he can quietly but effectively recover the stolen Public land.

 

The Kisumu Governor has been under pressure to reveal the identities of the land grabbers as mentioned in the Land Taskforce report after he wrote a letter to the National Land Commission detailing thousands of acres of land allegedly acquired illegally by prominent people.