The Nyangi Ndiiriri Council of Elders’ planned launch of a poultry project in Embu turned chaotic when armed squatters stormed the event, ejected them and damaged structures.
Two hundred and fifty elders visited the disputed Mwea Settlement Scheme on Friday to pray and launch the project at Gikuru Village on land they bought from squatter James Mwangi.
They had obtained a license to meet from Kiritiri police station but a few minutes into the launch, squatters stormed the meeting carrying pangas and planks of wood and chased them away.
The squatters burnt the wooden structures for the poultry project before smashing the windscreens of two of the matatus that ferried the elders.
The squatters also roughed up Mwangi, saying he was a traitor. They threatened to lynch him, but Makima MCA Peninnah Mutua and a senior AP officer arrived and calmed the squatters.
Some of the 15 bus drivers that had ferried the elders to the meeting fled. Some elders lost money and phones in the fracas. Before the squatters stormed the meeting, MCA aspirant Bernard Mwaniki arrived at the meeting and asked to address the elders. When he did, Mwaniki asked if the squatters were aware of the meeting.
He told them not to discuss land matters because ownership of the entire scheme was in dispute.
Mwaniki said the elders’ arrival in many buses had raised tension, adding that squatters were grouping and would soon storm the meeting.
As CoE chairman Andrew Ireri stood to respond to Mwaniki’s remarks, squatters started streaming in and demanded that the elders leave. Some squatters followed the elders to their vehicles while others pursued Mwangi.
It was at this point that Mutua and senior AP officer arrived and attempted to calm down the youths. Mwangi was rescued and ferried to Kiritiri police station in Mutua’s car.
Ireri, Mutua, Mwangi and the drivers of the damaged matatus recorded statements. The ownership of Mwea Settlement Scheme has been disputed for more than four decades. The scheme consists of 42,000 acres.
Mid-last year, the National Land Commission and the county government subdivided the land and issued 7,232 title deeds. The squatters have however refused to vacate, claiming most of the land was allocated to outsiders and only a few were factored in. Some of the squatters have sought legal redress.