Parents March To Ngilu's Office Protesting Over Grabbing Of School Playground

Lands CS Charity Ngilu. | image source: the-star.co.ke

About 200 parents from St. Catherine Primary School marched to Ardhi House on Wednesday to protest against the grabbing of the school's playground.

The parents of the school which is based in Nairobi's South B Estate walked the 5kms to Lands CS Charity Ngilu's office carrying placards with anti-land grabbing messages.

School representatives have been allowed to meet Ngilu.

The parents accused Nemka Commercial Agency, a private development company, of the land grabbing after the company sued the school’s management for constructing swings on the property which it says it owns.

The school's sponsors led by Catholic nun Mary Killeen however said City Hall allocated the school seven acres of the land.

“City Hall gave us approvals to put up swings and level the playground since the land had been transferred to the school. But the grabbers want to take away the playground. I am a poor nun. I am in Kenya to help the poor and I have no other interests,” Killeen said.

Killeen said after the allocation and issuance of an allotment letter, a man identified as Simon Limo claimed to own four acres of the land.

Limo later sold the property to NSSF, which sold it to Nemka's Nelson Mwangi Kamau and David Mburu Gibson, she said.

The playground was being used by the adjacent Mariakani Primary School.

The stand-off between the school and Nemka comes about a week after another by Lang'ata Road Primary School.

Parents, pupils and rights activists demonstrated against the grabbing of the school’s two-acre playground by a private developer.

Following the chaotic demo, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Lands ministry to issue schools with title deeds to prevent land grabbing.

- The STAR