NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 2 – President Uhuru Kenyatta Friday issued the Nubian community with a title for 288 acres of land in Kibra as the Jubilee Administration neared the 3 million titles mark.
Leaders representing the Nubian community shed tears of joy and prayed after President Kenyatta issued them with a certificate of incorporation for the 288 acres of land left of the Kibra military reserve which was originally 4,197 acres when it 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 like the Nairobi National Park, Langata Cemetery, Langata Women’s Prison, the 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, President Kenyatta told the Nubian leaders led by the Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Kenyan Nubians, Sheikh Issa Abdulfaraj, “ultimately we have found justice for you and I am very proud,” before he handed a certificate of incorporation in the name of the Nubian community trust.
The President said the Government will work with the community to make their land a model city by providing proper planning and public utilities.
“Kibera 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,” said the President as he pledged to work with the Nubian Community so that they can live in Kibra with dignity, pride and prosperity.
Besides being a bold 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 the Cabinet Secretary for Lands Jacob Kaimenyi said he expects his ministry will issue more than 200,000 within the next two months.
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.
CS Kaimenyi said the Government has also waived registration fees that schools used to pay for title deeds.
CS Kaimenyi and Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri attended the meeting
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