Gunmen raid Njeru govt farm, destroy buildings

Gunmen over the weekend raided and destroyed buildings at the government-owned Njeru Stock Farm, the New Vision has learnt. 

The Njeru Stock Farm is run by the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre & Data Bank (NAGRC&DB) under the agriculture ministry. 

A status report on the situation prepared by the Njeru Stock Farm manager, Dr Caroline Wabule, to top management, indicated that the armed men were allegedly led by Wilberforce Muhangi. 

In her assessment of the damage at the stock farm, Wabule claimed that the armed men removed the roof of one of the structures. They also destroyed the accommodation facilities of farm workers. 

Wabule also appealed to the Police and the army to beef up security at the facility. 

The ownership of the land on which Njeru Stock Farm sits is contested between the agriculture ministry and internal affairs minister Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire (Pictured). 

“How do we continue staying here when we can’t get any help? If we can’t, (let Government) at least halt their activities. It is my request that at least top management comes on the ground to assess the situation,” she requested. 

Explaining the incident, Wabule said: “On Saturday, at 5:47pm, my staff informed me that there was a one Wilberforce Muhangi at their residence. They said he was armed and telling them to move out of the building, saying they were going to demolish it since it was on his land. I told my staff to stay put as he will only demolish the building if they moved out. 

“Shortly after, I was called and told that he had gone and brought about 30 other men with pangas and that they had climbed the roof and were dismantling it. This building is located at one end of the farm. I was told by one of the staff that he is the same man who demolished the vet workshop,” she said. 

Some of the cattle reared on Njeru stock farm.

Wabule added that she also dashed to the farm to establish the extent of the damage. 

“He chased me off the land, and considering the fact that he was armed and surrounded by his panga-wielding men, I left. It was also getting dark. He said even if we reported to police, we will not get any help.” 

Muhangi declined to comment on the matter, noting that he is defending his land ownership rights. 

The ownership of the land on which Njeru Stock Farm sits is contested between the agriculture ministry and internal affairs minister Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire. 

Last year, the animal husbandry state minister, Lt. Col. (rtd) Bright Rwamirama, said Otafiire had no claim on the Njeru Stock Farm land. 

Rwamirama, who was responding to Otafiire’s claim that the Government farm had ceased to exist after its original owners, the Ham Mukasa estate, claimed it, noted that the farm was here to stay.

“He has no claim on the government farm. The farm is here to stay and a report by the Attorney General that was submitted to the President in June last year clearly detailed that he had no interest in the stock farm in Njeru,” he told the New Vision at the time. 
Rwamirama’s response came in the wake of a raid by armed men, who included soldiers. 

On January 23 last year, Wabule was arrested by soldiers and detained at Njeru Police Station for criminal trespass, under Police reference number CRB/047/2024. 

Tensions escalated that same month when unidentified individuals sprayed pesticides on the grass that the farm animals relied on. 

Last year, the animal husbandry state minister, Lt. Col. (rtd) Bright Rwamirama, said Otafiire had no claim on the Njeru Stock Farm land. 

This provoked protests from local residents and leaders in Njeru, who argued that the farm is a vital resource benefiting many in the community. However, Rwamirama noted that Otafiire had contradicted himself on how he acquired the same land.

“Initially, he claimed he had purchased the land from Christopher Lule, who controversially claimed ownership of Block 4, Plot 295, where the stock farm is located. Why is he now claiming that it is Ham Mukasa who was the true owner of the land and had evicted us?” he noted. 

Rwamirama insisted that Otafiire never paid any money for the land, but “was rewarded 100 acres after he controversially helped Lule to get the title”. 

A copy of the sale agreement between Otafi ire and Lule seen by the New Vision partly reads: “In consideration of the fi nancing and due diligence by the purchaser (Otafi ire) in securing the certifi cates of title, the vendor (Lule) hereby acknowledges the same and transfers 100 acres of the said land to the purchaser,” the sales agreement dated August 8, 2014 states. 

Early this year, unknown men also raided the farm and whisked away 300 breeding animals. The animals were dumped back on the farm after two days.

Some of them were injured and had to be slaughtered, while several others had suffered abortions. Agriculture ministry officials alleged that Otafiire had orchestrated the raid.

Allegations denied 

Internal affairs minister Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire denied the allegations, noting that he had no connection with the team that raided the government farm. 

“It had nothing to do with me. There were no government cows on my land. I do not know anything about the trucks. What I know is that the owner of Plot 2, the family of the late Ham Mukasa who were my neighbours (on Plot 3), had not been paid by Njeru Stock Farm for the leased land. So, the Mukasa family chased them away,” he said. 

Asked whether he knew that the lawyer who supervised the loading of the animals worked for him, Otafiire said: “Lawyers are like malayas (prostitutes). I do not have control over them.”