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Veteran risks losing part of land donated by the State for athletic prowess

Details

Published on Tuesday, 03 January 2012 13:00

Resting his chin on a wooden walking staff, the old man sits pensively under a shade outside his compound.

The wry smile that registers on his face as he welcomes us barely conceals the fact that the now retired legendary athlete is a distressed man.

Nyandika Maiyoro, 81, risks losing part of his 6.3 hectares of land at Isoge Settlement Scheme in Borabu District due to an unresolved land row with a neighbour.

He famously won the 3,000m race at the 1953 Indian Ocean Games in Madagascar despite starting the race late when other runners had done over 100m.Nyandika took part in major world athletics events eventually retiring from running in 1964.

The veteran athlete received the parcel of land from the State during the Kenyatta Government in 1967 as a token of appreciation for his efforts in bringing the country glory. He moved part of his family from his ancestral Kiogoro village in Kisii Central to the parcel of land at Isoge-Kineni sub-location.

"A settlement official led me to this place and showed me my parcel of land title number Isoge Settlement Scheme/157. There was a trench dug by a tractor to demarcate boundaries between parcels of land and part of it still exists," Nyandika tells FeverPitch.

A week ago, Nyandika claims a group of youth in the company of Administration Police officers hived off about three and-a-half acres of land from his farm and fenced it off claiming that it belonged to a neighbour.

When his wife Pacifica Gekondo tried to intervene, she was assaulted and the old man claims he was also assaulted by the APs when he confronted them.Nyandika is now living in fear of his family’s security as well as the reality of losing part of his land.

After losing his son through a road accident early last month, Nyandika sold off his blue gum trees to a power poles contractor to offset the funeral expenses.

The contractor moved the poles from the farm to a roadside where they were to stay overnight before being transported the following day.

An unknown person cut up the poles into pieces using a power saw. The matter was reported to Manga Police Station. The neighbour allegedly claimed the trees belonged to him.

The row over the disputed parcel of land emerged in 1978 with his neighbour Johnson Motwanga Ongeri over the boundary between their parcels of land.

"My family has been harassed and part of my fence was destroyed through a fire. We have reported the matter to police but nothing has been done," claims Nyandika.

Dispute referred

Letters in Nyandika’s possession indicate the dispute was referred to a Land Tribunal that was to determine the boundary and settle the dispute.

An order issued by Nyamira Senior Principal Magistrate J. Macharia on land case number 30 of 2011 lists Johnson Motwanga Ongeri as the plaintiff and Nyandika Mayioro and Pacifica Gekondo as the defendants.

The order states that the Borabu Land Dispute Tribunal sat on September 15, 2011 and its proceedings were adopted by the court.

The order directed the Nyamira Lands Registrar to visit the farm and demarcate the boundaries as recommended by the tribunal.

Nyamira Lands Registrar Alex Mutasa wrote a letter to Nyandika on December 15, 2011 indicating his intention to implement the court order.

"I received the letter but the Lands registrar came to my farm at 5.30pm in the absence of the chief and District Officer. How could he purport to implement the court order without the local administration and the affected parties?" posed Nyandika.

On his part, Motwanga claims he is the rightful owner of the disputed parcel of land as established by the land disputes tribunal.

However, Nyandika claims the map at the lands and settlement office is not the same as the original one shown to him in 1967.He is now appealing to the Government to intervene and assure his family of security and protect what is rightfully his.

"Let the Government come clear if this is my land or not as I have a title deed to show ownership. Why should they harass my family? What is the use of getting land from the government only for it to be taken away by individuals?" poses Nyandika.