Kuria East MP Marwa Kitayama
By MN Reporter
Local leaders in Kuria East have asked the government to establish a settlement scheme on the disputed Mashangwe land on the border of Kuria East in Migori county and Transmara in Narok county.
The political leaders, led by Kuria East MP Marwa Masiori Kitayama, said this move will help deal with the perennial clashes pitting the Kuria and the Maasai communities, which claim the ownership of the land.
“I am appealing to the government to let this land be turned into a settlement scheme in a bid to have a permanent solution to the perennial clashes that have claimed so many lives and left a trail of destruction,” MP Kitayama said.
The MP said he, together with Narok governor Samuel Tunai, had met President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto and held preliminary deliberations over the proposal.
“Just recently I joined leaders from Narok, led by governor Tunai, to state house where we met the president and Deputy President over this issue. We urged them to consider the settlement scheme as a solution to the problem. This way, people from both communities will be allowed to have pieces of land and this will foster peaceful co-existence.” Kitayama added.
Ntimaru East MCA Augustine Mwera also urged the government to resettle the people since they only knew the restricted land as their home.
“There are very many people in Kuria living as IDPs as a result of the conflict at Kuria-Transmara border. Besides finding a lasting solution to the conflict, the government should consider resettling our people who were evicted from the disputed land.,” Mwera said.
The Maasai and Kuria communities are locked in a land tussle with either side claiming the over 200 acres of arable land on the border of the two regions.
But because the government has denied them access to the land pending amicable resolution of the conflict, either side has been targeting the livestock of those who graze on the land.
The land under dispute cuts across two counties from Geitagaita in Migori to Taragai at the Kenya-Tanzania border and up to Transmara in Narok County.
A fortnight ago, a Kuria man from Koromangucha was reportedly killed by Maasai herders when he was found grazing cattle near the disputed land.
The body of the deceased, identified as Nyagonchera Marwa, was found in a thicket with deep cuts on the head.
The incident sparked intense tension with many locals expressing fears of fresh round of clashes.
This was diffused by a heavy deployment of Administration Police officers.
The conflict has in the recent past claimed several lives and led to destruction of property.
So intense were the clashes that the government in 2015 created a five-kilometer buffer zone in a bid to avoid people from either side crossing the border.
Several families especially from Masarura, Mashangwe and Kugitimu fled their homes in the wake of the skirmishes in 2015 and 2016 and are now living as squatters in areas such as Kegonga, Ntimaru, Nyamagongwi and Koromangucha.
