Pelican Engineering & Company Limited owned by Mike Maina Kamau and Nguru Muregi Wachira is mentioned as land grabbers of Kiambu forest which led to the brutal murder of Environmental Activist Joanna Stuchburry.
Stuchburry’s unrelenting fight to fend private developers off the Karura forest land, from preliminary findings, led to her murder.
She was shot dead outside her home in Kiambu county in July.
Detectives are still treating Kimani Ngunjiri as a person of interest over the well documented confrontation between him and Stuchburry.
Other grabbers include a prominent one, the Bahati MP Onesmus Kimani Ngunjiri who is a director of Agropack Limited that was allocated land in the forest.
The ministry mantains that the forest has not been degazetted and as such all the activities to subdivide and develop the land are illegal.
The illegal allocations
In a dossier, Tobiko exposed individuals and companies illegally and irregularly allocated 106.38 hectares (263 acres) of the forest.
Mike Maina Kamau through Pelican Engineering & Company Limited was illegally allocated 9.68 hectares (73.3 acres). Kamau is a director and owns 100,000 shares.
Agropack Limited, MP Ngunjiri’s company was allocated irregularly 6.795 hectares (16.7 acres). Ngunjiri is fiercely mentioned as a person of interest in the murder of the environmentalist. Although all the other grabbers are suspects too.
Stuchburry consistent defence of the environment caused her to receive multiple death threats and she was in the long run shot dead near her home.
At one point, Agropack had a case against Kenya Forest Service as the 1st defendant and Joan Stuchburry as the second defendant.
Tobiko revealed that Stuchburry managed to scuttle the plans of Agropack limited which Kimani Ngunjiri is the director to create a road that connects to the MP’s parcel of land namely LR no. 25009.
Bedan Mbugua Gikebe, Antony Muchiri Gikebe and Philomena Wangari Gikebe were allocated 25 hectares (61.7 acres) through Wibeso Investments Limited. The three are listed as directors, owning one share each.
The late Limuru MP Kuria Kanyingi of Kama Agencies Limited was allocated 15 hectares (37 acres). The title document was issued under the name of the company.
Cabinet Secretary Keiako Tobiko revealed all these during the virtual meeting with the Senate Security committee that is investigating the murder of environmentalist Joannah Stutchbury and the claims of massive grabbing and encroachment of the forest land.
According to Tobiko, the late Limuru MP’s firm Kama Agencies Limited is nonexistent as shown by the search in the database of the registered companies or businesses.
Kiambaa (Nyakinyua) Women Group. The group was allocated 39.82 hectares (97 acres) and has developed the land.
“It should be noted, however, that the areas developed within Kiambu Forest Reserve remain public forests as they have never been de-gazetted and were, therefore, not available for alienation,” the CS said in the documents sent to the Senate Security Committee.
The CS attached search documents from the registrar of companies, purported title documents and correspondences with the National Land Commission seeking repossession of the parcels.
Tobiko disclosed that the government, through KFS, has made several efforts to protect and secure the forest reserve which include the issuance of eviction notice to the beneficiaries of illegal allocations and a public notice in the newspapers to prevent further grabbing and subdivision of the forest.
