Kibiwott Koross
14 July 2008
Nairobi — Cabinet minister William Ntimama says he is not a beneficiary of land set aside for resettlement of victims of past ethnic and political violence in the Rift Valley.
The National Heritage and Culture minister denied reports that he had been allocated a plot in Moi Ndabi in Naivasha.
He was responding to an exclusive report in the Daily Nation on Friday, which published names of individuals, among them Cabinet ministers, and civil servants who benefited from the land meant for victims of politically instigated clashes in the Rift Valley.
The report, obtained from documents at the Lands ministry, detailed the scam where in 1994, plots that had been set aside by the Government for hundreds of 1993 clash victims at Moi Ndabi Settlement Scheme were allocated to senior politicians, military personnel and provincial administrators who served in the Moi Government.
Shadowy firms
Shadowy firms and clergy men are also said to have benefited from the scam.
According to copies of the documents in our possession, which have been confirmed by the ministry of Lands and Settlement, Mr Ntimama (ODM), from whose Narok North Constituency many of the clash victims were kicked out, is the beneficiary of parcel number 1250 measuring 82 acres while Livestock Minister Dr Mohamed Kuti of PNU has about 18 acres in the 3,000-acre scheme.
The minister said he was yet to see the documents.
Naivasha MP John Mututho has written to Lands minister James Orengo asking that the land be reverted to genuine squatters.
The revelations came ahead of a visit by the parliamentary committee for Agriculture, Lands and Natural Resources to Moi Ndabi on Friday.
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