Residents of Makuyu in Maragua sub-county, Murang’a County, took to the streets to protest the failure of Kakuzi Limited, a fruit processing company to resettle 25 families squatting on the company’s land.
The demonstrators marched to the company’s offices along Kenol–Sagana highway, demanding to be addressed by the management. After hours of chanting outside the premises without a response, they used a loudspeaker to air their grievances before trekking over seven kilometers to Gachagi village, where the families have been squatting for decades.
Originally 35 families, the squatters are descendants of elderly workers who had served the company for years.
According to Andrew Thuo, the company’s former community liaison officer, the firm had allegedly agreed through its board of management to resettle these families as compensation for their long service.
Thuo claimed that about 400 acres had initially been earmarked by previous directors for resettlement but while several families have since been relocated to areas such as Gathungururu, Thangira, Mwambu, Ngaatho, and Ithanga the Gachagi squatters continue to wait.
The push for resettlement began in 2004 when the squatters formed a committee to engage with the company. In 2018, ten families were given one-acre plots each but 25 families remain at the site.
Thuo noted that he stopped working with the company last month, citing frustration over the lack of progress. “I’ve tried engaging the company repeatedly, but no action has ever followed our agreements. This has strained my relationship with the community,” he said.
A resident Sammy Ndata voiced his disappointment, saying they are tired of waiting for the company to fulfill its promise. “The conditions at Gachagi are terrible. Many families lack basic sanitation. Houses are made of mud, and toilets have plastic walls and no roofs,” he said.
Furthermore, Ndata claimed that the company’s drones, used to monitor its vast land, invade the squatters’ privacy, as their makeshift bathrooms and toilets offer little or no cover at all.
He also alleged that some women have suffered sexual assault at the hands of the company’s security guards while collecting firewood.
Maragua MP Mary Wamaua, who joined the protesters, vowed to lead weekly demonstrations until the company acts, saying she has participated in at least six meetings with the company and local administrators, during which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was drafted.
She said stakeholders were at one point shown 35 acres of land, marked with beacons, allegedly set aside for resettlement. However, she expressed frustration that the company had failed to honor the MoU, exposing the squatters to what she described as unthinkable humanitarian suffering.
Wamaua called on human rights organizations to support the squatters and help improve their living conditions. She noted that the families cannot farm or bury their dead on the land, forcing them to rely on public cemeteries.
The company previously came under scrutiny in 2020 when some of its international clients suspended purchases due to human rights concerns. “Even now, we are calling on these buyers to stop sourcing from the company until it ends this suffering.” Wamaua said and asked if land was set aside for resettlement, why the continued delay.
In response, on May 29, the company’s executive head of corporate affairs, Simon Odhiambo, denied that any land had ever been promised as a gift to Gachagi residents. “Over the years, a mutually agreed MoU has been in place. It permits specific community members to occupy a 10-acre portion of our land in exchange for an annual fee and compliance with set conditions,” he stated.
Odhiambo added that some residents had recently challenged the MoU and the matter is currently before the National Land Commission and the courts.
He also defended the use of drones, saying they are essential for ensuring the security of the company’s expansive orchards.
Kakuzi limited Managing director Chris Flowers said the land dispute was compounded by several groups laying claims to the same parcels of land and confirmed that the matter is before the courts and the National Lands Commission.
Meanwhile, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, while attending an empowerment forum at Kimorori Grounds in Kenol on July 25, responded to a plea by MP Wamaua and donated Sh. 2 million to help the families construct better houses.
By Purity Mugo
