300 residents of Kisumu West demand Millions in land compensation for a road project
By Dickson Odhiambo
September 16, 2021
300 residents of Kisumu West demand Millions
in land compensation for a road project
About 300 residents of Kogony and Korando areas in Kisumu West
Constituency now demands millions of shillings from the National Government as
compensation for their land that was taken for the construction of the Kisumu
Northern bypass.
The residents led by Joram Ajumbo Juma, Naftali Olum and Asman
Sawo among others claim that they have not been paid for the parcels of land
that were to be used for the construction of the said road within Kogony and
Korando areas.
Addressing the press in Kisumu today to explain their
predicament, the residents said it has taken nearly 11 years since they were
engaged on the issue of their Land for the Project.
They said even though the project has not kicked off, they are
not allowed to do any development on their plots or are not allowed to bury their
dead relatives.
They said the issue of compensation lies squarely with the
office of the National Land Commission and the Kenya National Highways
Authority which was to undertake the Project.
They claim there is a blame game between the National Land
Commission and Kenya National Highways Authorities over who should compensate
them, adding that there are further claims that some funds were wired to the
National Land Commission Headquarters and only a few were paid some money.
They appeal to the National Government to speed up the
compensation process so that they can be able to move to other places for
settlement before the prices of land skyrocketed.
They demand an estimated shs 949,251,855 as compensation of
which part of it had been paid.
The National Land Commission has reportedly paid only shs 87,000,000
out of the shs 314,160,828 to it to payment to the affected persons.
“As per now, we can’t do any development in those parcels of
land of ours that were earmarked for the Kisumu Northern Bypass project nearly
11 years ago. We are yet to be compensated for such parcels of land,” they say.
Kisumu West Member of Parliament John Olago Aluoch has taken the
matter before the Floor of the House and asked the Cabinet Secretary in charge
of Transport to respond on the issue of compensating the land owners for the
project in the Constituency.
Olago in his letter dated June 29, 2021 to the Chairman of the
Kisumu Northern Bypass Affected Persons stated that following his question on
the issue in Parliament, the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Urban
Development and Public Works forwarded an answer to Parliament explaining that
out of 954,251,855 to be paid to all the affected persons, KeNHA has
transferred shs 314,160,828 to the National Land Commission to payment to the
affected persons.
When media visited the Nyanza Regional National Land Commission
Coordinator's Office in Kisumu to seek clarification on the matter, the officer
in charge told the media to write an official letter for such inquiries
to be made to such an office. He did not talk further to the press.
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