MP moves to quell fears over grabbing of land meant for the affordable housing project

Meru,

Tuesday, December 05, 2023,

KNA by Dickson Mwiti

Imenti North MP Rahim Dawood has allayed fears over the grabbing of a piece of land within Meru town that is earmarked for the affordable housing project.

On Monday, some members of the public and opinion leaders understandably leaning toward the County government of Meru raised concerns about land grabbing immediately after they noticed that some groundwork was ongoing on the said parcel of land.

Others claimed that the MP in collaboration with Municipality MCA Caleb Mutethia had an intention to grab it.

Mr Rahim however said that the piece of land was legally handed over to the National Housing Corporation (NHC) by the defunct Municipal Council of Meru after they were unable to pay money that the corporation had used to construct rental houses in Kooje Estate.

By that time, the MP was a councilor in the municipal council.

“The NHC debt was increasing and under the leadership of Mayor John Mwalimu, we thought of how we would go about the debt and considering that we were almost transiting to county governments.”

“We tried to look for someone to buy some pieces of land to settle the debt but since we didn’t have a title deed as a municipal council, the National Housing demanded to be given the estate in return to settle the debt,” said Mr Rahim.

He said this did not only happen in Meru but also in Mombasa and Kisumu counties which was confirmed during the recent auditing by the National Assembly’s special fund accounting committee which Rahim is a member.

“I want to assure Meru residents that the piece of land known as Tuntu Estate has not been grabbed as all the transactions that took place can be confirmed with the County commissioner who has all the documents about this."

“We support the Kenya Kwanza’s manifesto on affordable housing and this is the reason we have earmarked the piece of land for construction. Those arguing that we have grabbed the land should report to the investigating authorities and the truth shall be revealed,” said Mr Rahim.

Documents seen by Kenya News Agency confirmed the MP’s sentiments in their entirety.

They include a letter written by County Commissioner Fred Ndunga to NHC referencing encroachment on National Housing Corporation land parcel number Meru Municipality block 1/357 in Meru town dated September 01, 2023.

In relation to this, the NHC responded in a letter dated October 3, 2023, confirming all the details on the transactions with the defunct Municipal Council of Meru.

This letter indicates that the NHC constructed six housing schemes in line with its mandate within Meru town between 1967 and 1988 at a cost of Sh20,468,944.15 which was passed to the urban council of Meru as a loan that was to be repaid within a specified period.

The Municipal Council of Meru defaulted in payment of loan advanced to them and the corporation took over management of the estates in 1995 purposely to collect rent from individuals to service the council’s unpaid debt.

On January 23, 2009, the corporation and the Municipal Council reconciled the loan account and signed an agreement to facilitate further negotiations.

On October 21, 2009, the two parties agreed on a debt swap to offset an outstanding debt owed to the corporation that was determined and capped at Sh33 million.

By way of debt swap, the council transferred the Meru Tuntu rental Estate, valued at Sh38 million to NHC in November 4, 2010 and the latter was to refund Sh. 5 million being payment for the excess value of the estate. 

The transactions were approved by the Permanent Secretary office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Authority in October 26, 2009.The Council also issued a certificate of lease to NHC for the 0.9556 ha. at a rent of Sh54,000 for 99 years starting from September 2010.

Mr Rahim added that those who are up to taint other people’s names especially the elected leaders should know this will not be possible as they represent the will of the people and stand for the truth.

Courtesy; KNA