KIAMBU, Kenya, Nov 18- Tension is high in Mutomo village in Gatundu South, where tens of residents face possible eviction to pave way for the expansion of Mama Ngina University.
The villagers say they are not willing to leave their ancestral land.
In a gazette notice, the National Land Commission indicated it intends to acquire more land for the institution, on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
About 170 households are set to be affected.
The newly constructed University sits on a 10.3-acre piece of land, with the management now pushing for the acquisition of 40 more acres- whose land is already occupied.
But locals, mostly descendants of the Mau Mau veterans, say they cannot leave their ancestral land.
They are specifically worried that exhuming the remains of their forefathers will attract a curse, saying such a move is against the Kikuyu traditions.
They have cited lack of public participation in the whole process of acquisition.
They stated that the earlier plan was to issue the government 10-acres of land to build the university which they did while they would develop their parcels further by putting up rental houses for students.
The plan, they said was however changed without their consent and the government now wants to forcefully acquire their land for expansion of the institution.
“We will not move from our land,” Margaret Njeri, a granny told Shahidi News. “Mutomo is our home. Moving to any other place will be torturous.”
According to Njeri, already a number of residents are in the process of developing rentals using borrowed money.
But according to the National Land Commission commissioner Kazungu Kambi, the government plan is to compensate the affected local using alternative land.
He said those affected, “will be given bigger parcels” elsewhere that will enable them to acquire title deeds as per the law.
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