Ruto’s name dragged into the Lang’ata land dispute following the 2007 post-election violence.
According to a publication by Daily Nation, William Ruto’s name will feature today at the proceedings of a tribunal on a dispute involving public land in Lang’ata, Nairobi, on which families displaced following the 2007 post-election violence are settled.
Advocates of 1,200 families accuse a local politician of selling plots on public land while using President Ruto’s name.
The families claim they moved onto the land in 2008 with the approval of then-President Mwai Kibaki.
One of the orders they request from the National Environment Tribunal is to prevent Mr. Saja Muraya, a politician, and the director general of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), from bringing up the President in the legal battle.
The internally displaced persons (IDPs) claim that although they have been occupying the land for 15 years, the same has been allocated to a private developer and they are facing imminent eviction.
They have sued Nema and its director-general Mamo Bolu, the Registrar of Lands, the Attorney-General, Mr. Muraya, and the Nairobi City County government.
In documents filed at the tribunal, the claimants allege that Mr. Muraya “states that he is selling the public land on behalf of President Ruto and that Mr. Bolu has authorized” the exercise.
“He seems to be operating above the law, selling public land, blocking public roads, and charging citizens to access the same. He even states that he is selling the public land on behalf of His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto and that the 6th respondent (Bolu) has authorized, endorsed, and approved the same,” reads the documents.
“He even places his phone on loudspeaker where an individual claiming to be Mr. Bolu says that we should leave the land as the same has been sold and that it is the President himself, William Ruto, who has directed the sale,” further reads the documents.
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“Mr. Muraya, who is a local politician, came to the applicants and demanded that they should give him half of the land for his personal development and he would offer them protection,” reads the documents.
The land is near the Dam estate in Lang’ata. The claimants argue that apart from the land being public and riparian, it is also a way leave for Kenya Power.
“The applicants have been in occupation of the land with their grandparents, parents, and children. They have built homes on the suit property, which is located under the main national power grid of the Kenya Power and Lighting Company.
The said land is public land and has never had any title as it belongs to the government,” said the claimants. Led by Mr. Zablon Kibe, they add that the land houses a church, school, and residential houses and that the structures are 200 metres away from the Nairobi dam.
The claimants further allege that they have been furnished with title deeds for the said land, “which strangely have three different persons as owners”. They say that the intended sale of the land to private individuals is based on the said titles.
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