Directors and members of Solai Ruyobei Farm company have called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to launch investigations into an alleged agreement to swap their 8,000-acre land in Oljorai, Nakuru with Lari Nyakinyua Limited by the district’s land registrar’s office.
The same agreement was confirmed by Rongai MP Paul Chebor.
According to Chebor, Solai-Ruyobei and Lari-Nyakinyua agreed to settle a 32-year protracted ownership dispute, by exchanging title deeds.
The exchange would see Lari Nyakinyua occupy Oljorai land while Ruyobei members occupy the land in Solai.
He said the process had been included into the Government Titling programme, and they expect President William Ruto to handover the deeds by the end of the year.
The exchange, according to the MP, was necessary because some members of Ruyobei had occupied the majority of the land in Solai, before they won the Oljorai land case in 2019.
Justice Sila Munyao ruled that the 8,000 acres in Oljorai belonged to the company and its members.
However, some company directors, who represent over 1,300 members, have denounced the agreement, saying it was illegally signed by a splinter group.
Richardson Kipkoech, the secretary of the company, said the members pulled out of the agreement in early 2000 after discovering that the land in Solai owned by Lari Nyakinyua, only measured 5,000 acres.
According to Kipkoech, part of the land in Solai had been covered by water while another part was hilly, to the tune of over 3,000 acres.
He said that the title deed fell into the wrong hands of the alleged new directors, who have used it to do the transfer, despite pending court cases.
“We were shocked with the exchange process, despite two cases proceeding in court,” he stated.
Kipkoech said, one Kipkoech Chebet pretending to be chair of the company although documents from Sheria house list Olari Chebet, Joseph Lenginechi-both deceased and his as directors.
He called on the government to arrest perpetrators of land fraud and ensure court processes are respected, including barring any transaction on the land until the cases are concluded.
Kiptalam Sembele, a member, said the process of deed exchange was illegal and not backed by the law because it was done by non-directors.
He insisted that members are getting old, others are dying and their children have never occupied the land.
In response, Chebet through his lawyer said they were directors of the company and had a right to transact on behalf of the members, unless the court ordered otherwise.
He said that Kipkoech and other directors were legally removed from the office and formed a splinter group against new directors.