Kirinyaga man wants court to declare entire town as his

By Githinji Mwangi

A 70-year-old man has gone to a Kirinyaga court seeking orders to have Kabare Girls’ High School in Kirinyaga County demolished, claiming the institution sits on his 13 acres parcel of land.

The complainant also wants a hospital built on that land brought down and the entire Kabare Town declared as his.

Peter Bwe Kibiriti said he has instructed his lawyer to expedite the process of getting the court orders.

Bwe Kibiriti claims 39 years ago, he surrendered his parcels of land to the now-defunct Kirinyaga County Council for the constructions of the school and hospital.

The then-county council administration allocated him another land in Kathigiri Village in Mwea Constituency, where, he says, he moved to.

The complainant now alleges that he was shocked recently to be evicted from the Kathigiri land by another party, who claimed its ownership.

Bwe Kibiriti says following the ejection, he and his six sons have been rendered homeless and forced to live on the streets.

The land which he was allocated by the defunct county council was “illegally” transferred to another person, given the county council hadn’t changed the name of its legal occupant, claimed Bwe Kibiriti.

The plaintiff says his attempts to seek audience with the Kirinyaga County Government have been futile.

“After being evicted from my Kathigiri land, I went to the lands office in Kerugoya, where I ran a quick search on the ownership of my original land in Kabare, and I was lucky to discover that it still belongs to me as per the records,” said Bwe Kibiriti.

“My wife died, and I buried her on that (Kathigiri) land. It saddens me that I do not have anywhere to go now. My sons are roaming on the streets,” he said.

Kabare Girls’ High School is one of the top schools in Kirinyaga County, and was elevated from an extra-county to a national school two years ago.

Bwe Kibiriti also wants the court to order the county government to pay him accrued land rates for 39 years.