Reprieve for Embakasi Ranch Shareholders as issuance of titles resume next week
There is reprieve amongst shareholders of the troubled Embakasi Ranching Company after the government announced the second phase of issuing title deeds next Monday.
The issuance process was also derailed by revelations that a Three Star Hotel associated with a senior government honcho is sitting on a 16 acres piece of land comprising 25 amalgamated plots.
Bonafide scheme owners demanded a full disclosure of ownership audit to ensure legitimate land owners are not dispossessed off their land.
The 24,000-acre ranch was acquired by the company 45 years ago and the members are mainly from Nairobi, Kiambu and Murang’a counties.
Ardhi House is under pressure to have the titling process completed after it was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in August 2020.
However, the Lands Ministry, despite having registered a remarkable reform process including digitisation of records, is facing a litmus test to slay the ghost of fraudulent land transactions and irregular land allocations particularly on the disputed 25 plots in Ruai.
Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney said the process will resume on February 14 urging all owners to present themselves at the Ranching office grounds in Ruai for signing of leases.
“In order to successfully conclude the process, the plot owners are requested to present themselves at the Embakasi Ranching Company office grounds from Monday- Friday, February 14-18, 2022, between 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. with all documents as proof of ownership,” read the notice in part.
Nicholas Muraguri is the Principal Secretary and accounting officer of the ministry.
Plot owners will sign leases between February 14 and February 18 at the company’s offices in Ruai.
Individual owners are required to provide an original identification card, copies of share certificates and a copy of their KRA PIN.
Directors of companies should provide a copy of the certificate of registration, a KRA PIN, a certified copy of CR12, and copies of the national ID.
For self-help groups, trustees need a certificate of registration, and copies of the KRA PIN and the national ID.
Karoney warned that it is a criminal offence to present fake or forged documents, adding that no title deed will be given for plots with a dispute until the matter is resolved.
The ministry had been issuing title deeds for Embakasi Ranching Company plot owners since September 2020.
However, in May last year, the process was halted to give the government time to clean up the ranching company’s membership register.
“In this regard, from Tuesday, May 18, 2021, the ministry will resume the exercise for the collection of the ready title deeds and signing of the leases for plot owners of the Embakasi Ranching Company. This exercise will run concurrently for two weeks. Please note that the exercise will be conducted at the Embakasi ranching company office grounds in Ruai,” the notice added.
