By John Majau
Residents of Imenti in Meru County are calling on President Ruto to intervene and ensure that the title deed for a 50-acre piece of land set aside for establishment of a university campus is secured.
They are blaming Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mithika Linturi for deliberately delaying the process.
The residents, hailing from Kathera and Nkuene, said after they conceived the idea of setting up a constituent college of the Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) and selected a committee that was charged with the responsibility of pursuing the matter.
The committee was tasked with the job of starting the process of hiving off 50 acres from 164 acres of community land at Marimba farm.
During a presser, the committee said their efforts to secure the piece of land had hit a snag and blamed the Agriculture CS for the stalemate.
The committee Chairman Rev Stephen Muriuki disclosed a Canadian donor had promised to sponsor them establish a college at a cost of Ksh 12 billion.
“We blame Linturi for the stalemate. After consulting the management at MUST we entered into an agreement in 2014. The institution has now been promised funding by a Canadian organization to the tune of Sh12 billion to establish a college that will offer agriculture courses,” said the committee chairman.
He noted that the former Meru governor Kiraitu Murungi and former Agriculture CS Peter Munya wrote letters of ‘no objection’ to the National Lands Commission (NLC) but the process had not been completed by the time they left office in August last year.
He says that is why they decided to consult the current CS who they say has delayed the process.
The committee secretary Mr. Mwiti Muthoiri said when they sought assistance from Mr. Linturi, he told them he had to first consult the President.
“Despite giving us an appointment, he did not meet us but sent an officer who told us the CS said he could not issue a letter of no objection before consulting President Ruto,” said Mr. Muthoiri.
He said previously when the community was hiving off part of the land for construction of a tea factory, a church and a primary school over the past 20 years, they never consulted the President before issuance of the title deed and wondered want had changed now.
“We are appealing to President Ruto to intervene by giving us the green light to build the university. With the delay in the issuance of the title deed, we fear that this might discourage the financiers,” said Muthoiri.
In response, an officer in Mr. Linturi’s communication department said the area MP Dr. Shadrack Mwiti was pursuing the issue with the CS and wondered why the locals had “jumped the gun” and started complaining instead of being patient.
“The MP has spoken to the CS and the matter is being addressed. It is barely three weeks since they visited Mr. Linturi’s office and they should be patient,” the officer said.
