Makueni opens public review of plan to release 13,860 hectares of Ngai Ndethya reserve for settlement
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Makueni County will hold public participation within a month on a land use and management plan for the 21,000-hectare Ngai Ndethya Game Reserve, which proposes allocating 13,860 hectares for human settlement and leaving 7,279 hectares as a jointly managed reserve.
Makueni County has announced public participation on a land management proposal affecting thousands of residents in Ngai Ndethya, Mbeetwani and Ngiluni, days after President William Ruto promised to move a park boundary to allow title deeds to be issued, People Daily reported.
In a statement dated Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior said the county would hold a public participation exercise within the coming month so residents can review and validate the proposed Land Use and Management Plan for the 21,000-hectare Ngai Ndethya Game Reserve. The plan is intended to facilitate the lawful degazettement of part of the reserve, regularise human settlement and open the way for eligible residents to obtain title deeds.
According to the county, residents of Mtito Andei Ward in Kibwezi East sub-county petitioned the administration in 2022 to start the degazettement process for land affecting the Mbeetwani, Ngai Ndethya and Ngiluni settlement schemes. The county then worked with the Kenya Wildlife Service to develop a land use and management plan that would regularise settlement while retaining part of the reserve for conservation. The plan was completed on September 19, 2025 and is awaiting community validation and statutory approvals.
Under the proposal, 13,860 hectares would be allocated for human settlement, potentially enabling eligible residents to obtain titles once legal and administrative steps are complete. A further 7,279 hectares would remain public land designated as a game reserve under joint management by Makueni County and KWS. The county estimates that about 2,200 households, representing more than 47,000 people, could benefit.
The announcement follows Ruto's visit to the region on Monday, October 26, when he addressed residents' concerns about living on land gazetted as part of a protected area and said he would ask KWS to shift its boundary and the National Land Commission to process titles.
The county said the management plan would be available for public review on its website and urged affected residents to attend scheduled meetings and submit views through official channels. It stressed that the announcement does not mean title deeds are ready for issuance, since community validation and statutory approvals must still be completed before any degazettement can proceed.