The Status of Gor Mahia land in Embakassi
Back in the early 1990s, President Daniel arap Moi gave both Gor Mahia and AFC leopards adjacent peices of land at Kasarani in which to build a club-house and a training ground. Both clubs dilly dallied and the land was quickly grabbed and sold off by a well connected bigwig. Both clubs then pleaded with Moi to give them alternate pieces of land. Moi obliged and gave both clubs land, this time at Embakassi. Twenty five years on, the club has done nothing with the land. For years not much was known about the status of the land. The last reliable report about the land was back in 2008 when club officials said they could not develop the land because it was occupied by squatters. The club officials have maintained a studious silence about the status of the land. This has left fans wondering what exactly is the status of the land. Was it grabbed again? Was it sold off by unscrupulous officials?
The picture is beginning to be a little clearer thanks to research by fans who have uncovered useful information. Most notably a fan, Okil Kamaloka was able to dig up the title deed which still indicates that the piece of land belongs to the club.
Images provided by Okil Kamaloka
Image courtesy of Marcel Byron
A previous report by Odindo Ayieko back in 2009 indicated that the land title deed number was LR9042/560
Former Club Chairman Erastus Okul spoke of the difficulty of claiming the land at the time.
“We even managed to get a title deed but now it seems it will be even more difficult to get hold of it now that squatters have put up houses there. The squatters claim they bought the land, yet they have no documents to support their argument. But they say they are not moving from there either.” said former Gor Mahia chairman, Erastus Okul.
Gor Mahia spends tens of thousands of shillings to train at Camp Toyoyo everyday and tens of thousands more to rent office space. All this is money that the club can save if they develop their land and build a training ground and a clubhouse.
Let’s use the handshake to get another parcel of land. After all His Excellency the President, President Uhuru muigai Kenyatta is Gor mahia fan. In fact he is the chairman of state house branch.
Oh my… so what is the patron doing about this. Gor can get this land if it wants too. Moi got his land when squatters tried settling.
Nothing can stop a genuine land owner in Kenya from reclaiming his land from squatters. Once the documents are available and the authorities are notified, bulldozers and excavators will rise to the occasion at dawn with armed GSU officers. A little media coverage will be given but at the end the grabbers will migrate within a couple of hours.
I read mischief in the silence of the EC concerning this land. Do they want to sell it secretly and share the proceeds? Are they comfortable training at Camp Toyoyo and paying thousands in training charges?
The land belongs to Gor Mahia and othe EC should engage the administration to evict all squatters from our Gor Mahia land.
We can put a club house, training center, apartment for housing the players as well as hostel for letting.
The office need to move fast in reclaiming this land from the squatters as soon as possible.
The earlier Gor reclaims this land the better. If our patron can facilitate this great club to get its land back and refurbish it even to the status of a pitch then this can be the most memorable legacy ever. Nairobi population is rapidly expanding unlike the land and very soon the Embakasi land will be no more (God forbid).I think Kidero has extraordinary knowledge on how to grow grass and Gor can acquire his services.
Squatters can be removed
As the name suggests, they are people squatting on someone’s land and the owner has all the rights to evict them.
I would encourage the management to take advantage of the good will on fighting corruption and deal with the issue once,
i kindly urge the club management to lias with the county to acquire the permit to erect a training field and houses so as the team members to have a permanent home for them. The money that’s being paid at camp toyoyo now to be used for clubs development. Kindly the management staff wake up and reclaim the land for beneficial purposes.
Illegal acquisition of properties eg land,houses,cars,etc has been a hallmark in post independent Kenya.People have killed or become victims of related disputes. Can’t these be sorted out quickly?
Court cases,cops make things harder as they take too long to sort things out.
So if For has the right documents, please use the strong influence they have now to get the land.