Laikipia North residents appeal to President Ruto to waive accrued land rates

The residents of Laikipia North Sub County have appealed to President William Ruto to waive accrued land rates which have ballooned due to persistent drought experienced in the area for the last two years.

The Chairman of Suguta Ex-P&D Ranch Julius Lesuuda noted that the government has been losing the much needed revenue due to payment hurdles over the years with most of the land allottees not able to make any payments as their filling system is not automated.

“The residents of Suguta Ex- P&D Ranch are petitioning the government to ensure the automation of filing services in the Laikipia West Sub County Lands offices in order to ensure efficient service delivery to residents,” Lesuuda.

Lesuuda also called on the government to investigate allegations of land officers allocating land to non-residents where they apportion themselves parcels of land through proxies and sell them to the highest bidders without notice to the allottees which was unprocedural.

The residents told the government that the reallocation of land to non-residents is a cause for incitement to an already volatile situation calling on the relevant government officials not to contribute to insecurity due to some unwise decisions over land adjudication in the area.

 “Suguta Ex- P&D Ranch is an insecurity prone area with constant banditry with lack of basic amenities and the pastoral way of life could make some allottees not reside on the exact land parcels but live within the ward therefore that should not be reason to reallocate land to non-residents,” said Lesuuda.

They called for an end to opaqueness in service delivery with land allottees unable to know the status of their land whenever they need to even as they called for the recovery of the land that they have lost irregularly.

They called on the area Lands Adjudication office to carry out public participation with residents whenever there are issues to do with land adjudication in order to help alleviate unnecessary conflicts.