FARMKENYA INITIATIVE
Some residents have defied a court order and invaded Mumias Sugar Company’s land in an attempt to wrest the property from the miller.
They took the action after failing to convince the court to revert 8,700 acres to “the original owners”. Families that gave up land for the setting up of the company on February 1,1968 had moved to the Lands and Environment Court to have their land reverted to them, but the court ruled in the miller’s favour.
The families, known as Abahuyi, wanted the court to nullify the lease, which they claimed ended on December 31, 2001. They also wanted the miller to pay them rent from “the time the lease lapsed” plus interests, at the current commercial rates.