President William Ruto is the owner of some 5,000 acres of land in Ndabibi area in Naivasha, Nakuru County. This is according to Naivasha Member of Parliament Jane Kihara.
The MP made the announcement during a public baraza that was held at her constituency barely weeks after about 19 people were arrested for allegedly taking down concrete poles that surround the land and destroying property that was claimed to be worth Sh. 2.3 million at the farm.
According to Kihara, President Ruto genuinely bought the land from former Moi-era diplomat Benjamin Kulei.
“Can we stop the owner from selling the land to the President? It has been proven that this land belongs to Kipkulei, let him sell it to whoever he wants. We followed up on that case; we know he had a problem which is why he needed to sell the land,” Kihara stated.
“Nimekuja hapa ndio kama kuna shamba ya mtu hapa yenye rais amechukua aje hapa nimpeleke kwa rais ndio amwambie mheshimiwa rais ulichukua shamba yangu.”
In a court ruling that was issued by the High Court in Nakuru in August 2023, Kulei lost his claim to the land, after the Court determined that he had failed to produce the land sale agreement to support his claims.
He had indicated that he bought the land from various individuals in 2007 who were allotted the property by the Agricultural Development Corporation.
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In the ruling, Justice Lynette Omollo ruled that neither Kulei nor the said individuals presented sufficient evidence to prove ownership.