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Residents accuse Governor Samboja of harassing them

 

Some members of a ranch in Taita Taveta County have accused Governor Granton Samboja of using his position to evict them from disputed land.

Mr Samboja last week asked a Wundanyi court to eject eight members of the Kishushe Ranching Cooperative Society for trespassing on land he leased from the ranch.

In court documents, the residents have filed asking the court to dismiss Mr Samboja’s petition, one of them, Benedict Mwabili, claims they were sued after they reported harassment allegations against the governor at the Wundanyi Police Station.

Governor Samboja claimed the residents had invaded his grazing area. He said he had exclusive rights to part of the 60,000-acre ranch that he had leased for five years.

He also claimed that by continuing to graze their animals on the land, the defendants were causing him to incur huge losses because he was the one paying for it.

"He is now bringing more livestock on the suit property and using his capacity and force since he is the governor to press us (because) we have no financial muscles," he says.

They said the lease agreement the governor had signed with the ranch committee was illegal because members were not involved.

"The execution of the agreement between the committee and the plaintiff is strange to us since we were not involved as members as it is the procedure for such a transaction to be approved by members in an annual general meeting," he argues.

Mr Mwabili said the agreement between the ranch and the governor was made secretly without the knowledge of members.

"In addition, the supervisory board which acts as a watchdog was not involved in the transaction," he says.

He added that the ranch members have lived on the land since 2009 and they were surprised to be referred to as strangers yet the governor entered the land in July this year.

Mr Samboja's entry into the ranch, Mr Mwabili says, had caused a scramble for water and pasture.

"Given the permission to graze on the suit property, (the governor) is using community water thus frustrating the residents who were on the suit property," the affidavit says.

The residents described Mr Samboja’s petition as malicious, saying only two of them were grazing their livestock on the disputed property.

"The interest of the members of the ranch cannot be outweighed by one person who is using politics and powers to press valid and bona fide members and beneficiaries of the ranch," Mr Mwabili argues.

Wundanyi Senior Resident Magistrate Sinkiyian Tobiko set the matter for a hearing on November 16.    BY DAILY NATION  

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