“Our road is in a horrible state and is always impassable during the rainy season, which makes it impossible for people working in Nairobi city or wishing to connect to other places like Tala, Kangundo, or Malaa Market, and it needs to be addressed urgently, “- area resident Jane Shiramba
By Collins Wanzallah
Land grabbers in the Koma location of Machakos County will be evicted from the land they currently occupy illegally. Speaking during a development consultative meeting with the area residents in Kantafu, Matungulu West MCA Raphael Lucky Nzau said that several public parcels of land in the area have been grabbed by unscrupulous people, making it impossible for the construction of public utilities and roads.
Also present in the meeting were land officials from the Machakos County government serving in Matungulu Sub County. “Securing these public utilities is not just about reclaiming land; it is about laying the foundation for sustainable infrastructural and economic development in our area. By safeguarding spaces for education, recreation, and other essential services, we are investing in the future of our children and the well-being of our entire community, “said the MCA.
He thanked the land officials, who, he added, through their expertise and commitment, were instrumental in successfully mapping out and securing five crucial public lands designated for a nursery school, public school, and playing field that had previously been grabbed. “I am also immensely thankful to the Kantafu, India, and Malaa communities for their overwhelming turnout and active participation at the local chief camp. Your engagement and hospitality were pivotal in ensuring the success of this exercise, Nzau said.
He added that the community’s involvement and support in marking the grabbed land with beacons underscored their collective commitment to protecting and promoting public utilities. The MCA said that the issue of land grabbing has led to the area not developing because of the problem of public land grabbing. “This area has no playground for children, public market, and no expansion of roads into the villages because some people have grabbed public land, and whenever the county or national governments come intending to set up a public project, they are unable to, said Nzau.
The meeting had been called following a cry by the area residents about the poor road network in the area, especially the one connecting Misuuni Market and Kangundo Road through the KBC police station that residents claimed was in bad shape.
“Our road is in a horrible state and is always impassable during the rainy season, which makes it impossible for people working in Nairobi city or wishing to connect to other places like Tala, Kangundo, or Malaa Market, and it needs to be addressed urgently, “said area resident Jane Shiramba.
Police in the area too had complained of not being able to access the interior of India and Jericho areas on time whenever a security alarm is raised due to the bad state of the road from the police station, whose tarmac is worn out and has never been repaired for many years.
A one-kilometre tarmac stretch road from KBC police station to KBC mast, which the locals say was carpeted in the early 1990s, has never been repaired for many years, while the 4.5-kilometre rough road that the residents themselves constructed and connected it with the one that joins the Kantafu-Misuuni road has no murram. “We kindly urge the MCA and the county government to help us murram this road so that we can be able to pass through it when it rains. This is a very important and key road in this area, narrated India village elder Timothy Masio.
The MCA assured them that he would help in the construction of the road and also help in the purchase and installation of a few street lights on different roads in the area as a way of curbing insecurity along some roads, which the residents said had started being witnessed in the area.
“I am aware the population in the Koma location continues to grow because this location borders Nairobi County, and I will partner with you people to repair roads in this location. Also along these roads, there are reports of thugs attacking people at night, and very early in the morning I will install a few street lights on them, added the MCA.
The meeting was also informed that a public borehole had been sunk in someone’s private home during the tenure of the first county governor, Alfred Mutua, who is a nominee for the position of cabinet secretary for Labour.
Nzau admitted that it was wrong for a public project to be done on someone`s private land and promised to make a follow-up on the matter after he was informed that the land owner was denying area residents the right to draw water from it.
