wrongturn
Elder Lister
There is a bold land-grabbing cartel operating in Nairobi, working with government employees. Every day, a new victim walks into our office at
@SemaUkweliKenya
. We are becoming like the Wild, Wild West, a country where the crooks trample over the weak and feast on them like greedy hyenas. Surprisingly, there is a trend where the majority of the grabbers have the same ethnicity. It’s a community that l grew up with - some of my close friends come from that community - and their reputation was always hardworking, honest people. The ones l grew up with, and even the ones who are my friends today, don’t do drugs or alcohol. Now some of the members of that community are in the frontline of land grabbing. Their modus operandi is to identify a plot they can develop, research into the owner(s), and find a tenant who lives there, or someone who can act as a front, to claim ownership of the property. The front person gets crooked lawyers to sign fake affidavits, which they submit in court with a fake title deed. The court doesn’t bother to ascertain ownership, or even call the real landowner,before they issue an eviction order ex-parte. Once that happens, you, or your tenants are evicted, and goons move in. The police are bribed to look the other way. Then intimidation and coercion start. The land grabber will offer you small money to force you to sell your land, and assure you that if you refuse the money, or go public, you will still lose your property. They target women land owners, especially widows, and are currently specialising in stealing land in South B, South C, Pangani, Kileleshwa and Eastleigh. It's a matter of time before they start targeting land anywhere, and everywhere. They are even stealing government property, with the help of Cabinet and Permanent Secretaries. I foresee the next move for these bold thieves will be to murder anyone whose property they want to steal. I hope that doesn’t happen, but this is Kenya, where lawlessness and impunity are the order of the day. As a Nairobi landowner, please put your updated particulars on Ardhi Sasa, and secure all proof of land purchase and original documents in a bank safe, or somewhere they can’t be stolen. Do not, and l repeat, do not give your original documents to your lawyer for safekeeping, give them copies instead. #SemaUkweli #TeamCourage
@SemaUkweliKenya
. We are becoming like the Wild, Wild West, a country where the crooks trample over the weak and feast on them like greedy hyenas. Surprisingly, there is a trend where the majority of the grabbers have the same ethnicity. It’s a community that l grew up with - some of my close friends come from that community - and their reputation was always hardworking, honest people. The ones l grew up with, and even the ones who are my friends today, don’t do drugs or alcohol. Now some of the members of that community are in the frontline of land grabbing. Their modus operandi is to identify a plot they can develop, research into the owner(s), and find a tenant who lives there, or someone who can act as a front, to claim ownership of the property. The front person gets crooked lawyers to sign fake affidavits, which they submit in court with a fake title deed. The court doesn’t bother to ascertain ownership, or even call the real landowner,before they issue an eviction order ex-parte. Once that happens, you, or your tenants are evicted, and goons move in. The police are bribed to look the other way. Then intimidation and coercion start. The land grabber will offer you small money to force you to sell your land, and assure you that if you refuse the money, or go public, you will still lose your property. They target women land owners, especially widows, and are currently specialising in stealing land in South B, South C, Pangani, Kileleshwa and Eastleigh. It's a matter of time before they start targeting land anywhere, and everywhere. They are even stealing government property, with the help of Cabinet and Permanent Secretaries. I foresee the next move for these bold thieves will be to murder anyone whose property they want to steal. I hope that doesn’t happen, but this is Kenya, where lawlessness and impunity are the order of the day. As a Nairobi landowner, please put your updated particulars on Ardhi Sasa, and secure all proof of land purchase and original documents in a bank safe, or somewhere they can’t be stolen. Do not, and l repeat, do not give your original documents to your lawyer for safekeeping, give them copies instead. #SemaUkweli #TeamCourage
