Over 120 surveyors in Bungoma county are up in arms against a senior lands officer who is fond of frustrating them and want her transferred.
Early December, the surveyors demonstrated in Bungoma town demanding for the transfer of a senior lands officer accused of frustrating them through hiding key documents hence paralysing their work.
Karoney
Martin Wanyonyi, a human rights activist representing the surveyors reiterated that the officer was even manipulating the new Bungoma county land registrar by capitalising on her innocence.
“Let Lands cabinet secretary Farida Karoney launch an investigation and transfer this officer, she is the main impediment towards discharging serious land matters here. We want her sent packing or be transferred elsewhere, we are tired,” said Wanyonyi.
The officer, Josephine Ndanyi, who is a senior secretary in the Bungoma lands ministry, is the main cause of the surveyors’ unrest.
She is said to be controlling the lands registrar and does everything in the office leaving visitors’ mouths agap with the foul language she uses.
The surveyors now want her transferred because she is an impediment to their work and she always minds her business instead of serving the public.
Ndanyi is also accused of running Zion Hotel at Sikata in the Bungoma town which also sells food at the lands office during breakfast and lunch time which goes against her role as a civil servant.
Hellen Ajiambo, the new Bungoma county lands registrar, is about two months old in office but Ndanyi her junior has always manipulated her.
Surveyors are accusing the senior secretary of frustrating them by hiding key documents including green cards, title deeds and other land transfer documents.
Surveyors claim that getting searches has proved hard because Ndanyi has always hidden them and allegedly demands for Sh2, 000 to produce them.
They also accused the new land registrar of absenteeism from office which makes it difficult for them to get the essential documents.
“Our clients might have approached us to do a search for them to help them bail out their relatives who might have been charged in court, but the registrar is always absent hence paralysing our efforts to help our clients, sometimes a search takes up to two weeks when previously it took two hours,” they lamented.
La Zion Hotel
They also want the government to deploy more land registrar to Bungoma to help ease the backlog of cases pending in its offices.
“Only one registrar can’t handle all these land cases. We need three to four of them so that they can expedite the exercise,” they said.
They also want one retiree, Leonard Wabwile, kicked out of office.
They claim that the cartel operating in the lands office is using him to siphon money from the public. He is said to have retired but still hanging in the office.
“Why is the land registrar still holding onto him?” they posed.
Contacted, both the land registrar and the senior secretary denied the allegations leveled against them.
“You understand very well that we are not allowed to speak to the media, therefore ‘no comment, ‘said Ajiambo.
