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Uhuru issues Nubians with title deed for 288 acres Kibra land

By PSCU June 2nd, 2017 2 min read

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday issued the Nubian community with a title deed for 288 acres of land in Kibra.

President Kenyatta issued a certificate of incorporation for the land that was part of Kibra military reserve, which was originally 4,197 acres. The Kibra military reserve was established in 1902.

Over the years, parts of the reserve, where the Nubians were settled by the colonial government, was taken up by public utilities including the Nairobi National Park, Lang’ata Cemetery, Lang’ata Women’s Prison, Jamhuri Park showground and residential estates.

Since Kenya gained independence, the Nubian community has been pleading with successive governments to issue them with titles for what was left of the land.

At State House Nairobi on Friday, President Kenyatta told the Nubian leaders led by the chairman of the Council of Elders of the Kenyan Nubians, Sheikh Issa Abdulfaraj that “ultimately we have found justice for you and I am very proud.”

MODEL CITY

The President said the government will work with the community to make their land a model city by providing proper planning and public utilities.

“Kibra should not be a tourist venue for people to come to see desperation and poverty,” said the President.

President Kenyatta’s objective is to secure the interests of the community and to enable them secure funds through partnerships to develop the land more optimally for the communities residing in the area.

The Head of State said the government does not expect the issuance of the title to the community to cause any disharmony.

“You have lived in Kibra for many years without knowing whether you will continue living in your home the next day but that problem is now over,” he said and pledged to work with the Nubian community so that they can live with dignity, pride and prosperity.

HISTORICAL INJUSTICE

Besides being a move by President Kenyatta to solve a historical injustice, the issuance of ownership title to the Nubian community also brings to focus the achievement of Jubilee’s promise on title deeds.

The government has already issued more than 2.8 million title deeds and Lands Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said his ministry will issue more than 200,000 within the next two months.

Prof Kaimenyi said the Jubilee government has reformed the administration of land matters to remove bottlenecks that were in the past used to stifle access to titles or even for corrupt purposes.

He said the government has waived charges for land searches to remove a burden which restricted poor people from using the service.

He said the Government has also embarked on a process to issue all public schools with title deeds and the first county that has benefited is Uasin Gishu where 1,000 schools have been issued with the documents.