Kenya's interior minister pledges protection for Two Rivers Crescent homeowners as land row reaches Senate

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has pledged government intervention at Two Rivers Crescent Estate in Kiambu County, where more than 100 families occupying about 35 acres in Ruiru are fighting a rival claim to the land.

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Land, Environment and Natural Resources, chaired by Mombasa Senator Mohamed Faki, at Bunge Tower in Nairobi on November 5, Murkomen said protecting the lives and property of citizens is a cardinal duty of government and warned that anyone found violating the rights of property owners would be held accountable. He said he would visit the estate to establish the facts and address residents' security concerns.

Residents say they acquired their parcels from the estate of former intelligence chief James Kanyotu. Their ownership has been challenged by Willy Kihara Njoki Kanyotu, who maintains that he is the rightful beneficiary of his late father's estate and disputes the legality of some of the earlier land transactions.

The dispute was brought to the Senate's attention on June 4, 2026, when Kiambu Senator Karungo wa Thang'wa sought the committee's intervention. Two Rivers Crescent Estate Residents Association chairperson Felisters Mwihia previously told senators that some homeowners had experienced destruction of security installations, digging of trenches, interference with plot boundaries and attempts to subdivide disputed parcels, and residents have raised concerns about enforcement of court orders meant to protect their occupation.

In September the High Court cleared the Senate committee to resume its inquiry, ruling that Parliament could investigate broader public-interest concerns around the dispute provided it did not take over the courts' role of determining ownership. The ownership question continues through the legal process.