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The Agricultural Settlement Fund Trustees has been accused of refusing to disclose identities of individuals in first President Jomo Kenyatta's era including top politicians, senior state officials and business people who were settled on land purchased at Sh2.8 billion.
Appearing before Parliament's Special Funds Accounts Committee on Wednesday, Auditor-General Edward Ouko told members that the Agricultural Settlement Fund Trustees has constantly refused to disclose names of beneficiaries of the 101 land schemes that were supposed to be allocated to squatters.
The fund was formed immediately the country attained independence and was tasked to purchase large tracts of land and allocate it to the poor after subdivision through a credit scheme. This was in a bid to offer a majority of the population access to property.
However, the initiative was hijacked by who is who in the society including political elite, senior civil servants and businessmen, who ended up being allocated prime land that white settlers had surrendered to the government for the landless.
Ouko said the fund has provided details of the land transactions in the schemes, but failed to table the names of individuals who were allocated the land.
“They have not given us the names of the specific settlers for us to verify. Giving us a list of codes and stating an amount that is owed is not helpful,” Mr Ouko told the Special Funds Accounts committee chaired by South Imenti MP Kathuri Murungi.
Ouko was responding to claims by the Fund’s accountant Ndungu Kiarie that information on settlers is available and had been tabled during audit.
The Land registry is set to unearth one of the country's most jealously guarded secrets on how land meant for poor ended up being allocated to rich and powerful people.
We need to know who this thugs are.The poor pple yaani children of maumau need to b given this land.Mr ouko this is one of the projects I support u to push thou we know who they are from rift valley to central but we need the names to b made public so they can surrender.Also there is still big chunk of land with white pple like delamere wanafaa warundishe yote Coz Nobody came from any land from uk.Am happy south Africa have decided to get their land back n if they don’t mr Malema will push it until waipatiane.