.. Page 27 Leaders want education sector devolved Leaders have called forthefull devolvement ofbasic education to thecounty governments. This. they said. would enhance the quality ofeducation. Governor Cyprian Awiti and Karachuonyo MP James Rege said secondary and primary school education should bedevolved to make management ofthesector easier. Mr Awiti said it was appropriate for every county government to manage itsown education. The governor said county governments have theability to assess thesituation ofeducation in their counties. Sh150m needed for vocational college Residents ofRongo. Migori County. need Sht50 million to construct a vocational training institute. The institute. which has seenresidents raise Sh40 million sofar. will replace theone thatwas upgraded to become Rongo University three years ago. Nominated County Assembly Representative Josephine Ojwang. who isamong the leaders steering the plan. said the project would benefit thecounty andits neighbours. "This isa steptowards empowering thecommunity through skilled youth: shesaid. AI OBI' Suspected thug arrested inhospital Aman suspected to bea gunman was arrested moments afterhe checked into hospital toseek medical attention at the Mater Hospital inNairobi following a shoot out. The man had been shotand wounded by police ina botched robbery inMukuru slums before heand otheraccomplices escaped, police said. He later turned upin hospital seeking medical attention. According to Nairobi police boss Benson Kibue. the man was shot on Sunday night during a botched robbery intheslum. But thefamily said thevictim was a l2-year-old boy shotby mistake ina police shooting incident. KlAN U: Recruitment of ECD teachers starts The Kiambu county government has started the recruilment of Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers. County Education Cabinet Secretary Esther Ndirangu said the recruitment would bedone inphases to make theexercise effective. Ms Ndirangu said they would start by posting new teachers to theareas with teacher shortages. Interviews for the first group are under way and scheduled to becomplete by theend ofFebruary. The county also plans to refurbish allclassrooms used byECD children to ensure they are Slogs, archives, reader forums and more: www.slandardmedia.CD.ke/news Tension mounts in troubled Kuresoi scheme The two dominant communities have openly disagreed on how to handle the land problem BY KARANJA NJOROGE NakuruCounty The lush scenic hills of the Chepakundi settlement scheme in Kuresoi, Nakuru County.disprove the land row that is simmering. A22-year conflict. which traces its origin to the 1992land clashes, has returned to haunt the residents, who until the recent past have been quiet1y living and going about their daily business. Issues to do with land have proved emotive in the region that has experienced ethnic conflicts since the advent of multi-party politics in 1992. An attempt by more than 800 families evicted from Chepakundi during the clashes to reclaim their land has opened a can of worms. Panic has gripped the area following reports that the scheme may revert back to forest land. which may lead to the displacement of hundreds of families. Some of the families. mostly from the Kikuyu community who were evicted from the scheme but were later allocated land in Kapsita, Elburgon, are seeking to return to their land. which they bought legally. However. the move has generated controversy as members of the resident Kalenjin community occupied most of the land after the clashes. FORESTLAND Followingutterances bylocal leaders, which have stoked fresh controversy.the National Land Commission (NLC) visited Chepakundi last week to ensure the row does not degenerate into violence. At a meeting with residents in Chepakundi, local leaders differed sharply over how to resolve the issue. "There is a suggestion that the area should revert to forest land but as you have seen, there are many people who have settled here. If you declare it forest land where willyou take these people?" posed Nakuru County Deputy Speaker Samuel Tonui. Mr Tonui said many people had made the area their home and declaring the area forest land would come at a great 'cost. Joseph Maina, one ofthose flushed out of the area during the 1992ethnic • Some of the families, mostly from the Kikuyu community, who were evicted from the scheme but were later allocated lahd in Kapsita, Elburgon, are seeking to return to their land, which they bought legally • The move has, however, generated controversy as members of the resident Kalenjin community occupied most of the land after the clashes • Panic has gripped the area following reports that the scheme may revert back to forest land, which may lead to the displacement of hundreds of families clashes, supported plans for the disputed land to he declared forest land; he however asked for compensation for those with title deeds. "Chepakundi should be made forest land but all those with title deeds should be allocated land elsewhere," Mr Maina said. Maina, a church leader, says as part of the efforts to address past injustices, the Government should compensate families that lost property during the 1990sethnic clashes. GENUINE TITLE DEEDS Matters at the scheme were complicated by a Government directive, which declared the area forest land around 1994. NLC has promised to come up with recommendations on how to resolve the issue on February 4. "On February 4, we will call your leaders for a meeting in Nairobi to inform them of our decision following our visit here," NLC Chairman Muhammad Swazuri said. Dr Swazuri said the communities should be ready to accept the commission's verdict, including having those occupying the land moved. National Land Commission Chairman Dr Mohammed Swazuri addresses residentsof Chepakundi, Kuresoi. [PHOTO: BONFACE THUKU/STANDARD] (. Among the options the commission is considering is declaring the scheme forest land as it was before it was expunged in the late 1970s. But over 2,000 families occupying the land are opposed to plans to relocate them. Confusion has clouded moves to find a solution to the row, with the Nakuru county assembly also launching investigations into the allocations. The assembly, through its Legal and Justice Departmental Committee, is probing the controversial allocation of the 31,000 hectares to politicians and provincial administration. Apetition signed by more than 400 evicted families before the county assembly prompted the probe. Following the petition, the Legaland Justice Departmental Committee took a fourday fact-finding trip to the area in November 2013. The committee is expected to submit its findings when it resumes sessions next month. The petition was presented to the assembly by the occupants and evictees through the Nyota Ward Member of the County Assembly Njuguna Gichamu in September. The evictees claimed that former powerful provincial administration personnel forcibly took their land after they were evicted from their farms at the height of the 1992 tribal clashes. "In exercise of the law,which guarantees that people may exercise their sovereign powers, either directly or through their democratically elected representatives, the petitioners want title deeds issued for their former lands cancelled and compensation paid to them," the MCA said. INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE According to Mr Gicharnu, out or 980 families ejected from the area 22 years ago, 400 have sold their land. "But for the 500, mostly Kikuyuswho refused to sell their farms, their parcels have since been occupied by individuals who have managed to acquire title deeds," Gichamu stated. The families were settled in the agriculturally rich area during the regime of President Iorno Kenyatta. But the dispute took a new twist after more than 400 farmers went to court last month seeking orders to suspend Nakuru County Deputy Governor Joseph Ruto from discharging his duties over incitement to violence allegations. The farmers in the petition, which is pending before the Nakuru High Court, claim Mr Ruto incited residents following a dispute over the ownership of the settlement scheme. They want the High Court to order Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) KeriakoTobikoto investigate the deputy governor and three other public officials over inflammatory statements against the Kikuyu community made in relation to the land. They said Ruto allegedlyissued the statements in a meeting on August 10 last year. [