Why Muteshi is not yet done with Ruto

PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA Isaac Maiyo (right) and Mumo Mwendwa (left), representing Deputy President William Ruto and Adrian Muteshi respectively, during the handing over of a 100-acre farm to Muteshi at Tapsagoi in Turbo, Uasin Gishu County, on August 15, 2013. A court had ruled that he is the rightful owner.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

A man who has been branded by the media as the most famous IDP following the 2007 post-election violence now says his quest for justice is far from over.

Mr Adrian Muteshi, who got back 100 acres of land that he had lost to Deputy President William Ruto at the height of the violence, has told the Sunday Nation that his focus has now shifted to revoking the nine title deeds under which the land is registered.

“For me to be sure, those titles must be cancelled,” Mr Muteshi said. He also wants a public road that passes through his land removed. “I want the land in its original state. There are many changes that have taken place, there is even a road where it is not supposed to be,” he said.

The 70-year-old man was also in full praise of the Judiciary for restoring the land to him. “I am pleased that the court gave me back the land, recovering it is the first stage; now we move forward to issues of compensation,” he added.

“All I want is full implementation of the court ruling,” he said, adding he has confidence that the court will continue to maintain honesty in its dealings. Contrary to widespread reports that he is a peasant, Mr Muteshi is a large-scale maize farmer.

Besides owning the 100-acre piece of land in Eldoret, he has property in Nairobi, and his family lives in Lavington.

Inside the 100-acre land from where he was alienated, Muteshi says he had given the land to serve different projects such as co-operatives, cattle dips and a school. “I also had a 6-bedroom house in the land where I would go whenever I was on leave,” he said.

Mr Ruto had told the court that he bought the land. But the High Court in June ruled that Mr Ruto failed to provide evidence that he purchased the land belonging to Mr Muteshi and ordered him to pay him Sh5 million for trespassing on his land and denying him access since 2008. The court also ordered Mr Ruto to return the land to Mr Muteshi.

Justice Rose Ougo ruled that she had conclusively established that Mr Muteshi is the owner of the land. She accused Mr Ruto of fraudulently acquiring the piece of land.

Mr Muteshi, however, says he has no grudge against Mr Ruto and that his case was not meant to blot the Deputy President’s political career. “The case started back in 2009, way back before he became Deputy President,” he said.

Mr Muteshi, a former head of personnel at the East African Airways, said he is a large-scale farmer who practises mixed farming. The said land has been under his custody since 1968, and he had developed it over the years.

The farmer skipped the Thursday handing over ceremony in Turbo, Uasin Gishu County, saying he had other issues that tied him from travelling to Turbo. “If Ruto sent representatives, why shouldn’t I?” he asked.

Mr Muteshi also announced that he has no intention of kicking out the people he had given space in the land. “I have no intention of sending anyone away.”

He says he plans to set up more structures in the land and will transform it into a shopping centre. The land was received by Muteshi’s son-in-law Mwendwa Mumo from Mr Ruto’s representative Isaac Maiyo in the presence of senior police officer Pascal Oluti.

According to the locals, Mr Muteshi is believed to have settled in the land in the late 1960s and was a large-scale maize farmer employing more than 15 workers.

“He acquired the land in 1968 and, although he did not live here, he was a frequent visitor and would occasionally be seen inspecting it during weekends. However, he fled during the 1992 election violence and the land remained idle until news of the acquisition by the DP in 2008,” said William Tuwei, a neighbour. Before then, the land had been lying idle with the locals freely grazing their herds.

Mr Alphonse Isiakho, 69, revealed that he was Mr Muteshi’s manager for over 23 years before being uprooted in the 1992 clashes and has not returned to the farm since then.

“Though there were clashes after every other election, the 1992 violence was so intense and we had to seek sanctuary elsewhere. Ever since I have not stepped on the farm and I am surprised how it has changed,” said Mr Isiakho.

Mr Ruto is believed to have acquired the land immediately after the 2007 General Election but Mr Muteshi argued that the land was fraudulently acquired after the violence that rocked the country after he was forcefully evicted.