By: Betty Luke
A section of elders from Isiolo County have protested the establishment and inauguration of the 600-acre Magado Police Training Camp, accusing the government of violating court processes and disregarding constitutional protections over what they describe as their ancestral grazing land.
Led by Sericho MCA Abubakar Godana and County Alternative Justice Systems (AJS) Chaiperson who also chairs the Isiolo Council of Elders Abdullahi Gonjobe, the elders said the establishment of the camp at Magado grazing area, also known as Kubi Matta Lama, had been done despite pending court cases over the ownership of the land.
“The government has proceeded to establish and officially inaugurate the camp while legal proceedings remain unresolved. Such actions undermine public confidence in the administration of justice and create the impression that government agencies are above the law,” Gonjobe said.
He said pastoral communities from Kinna, Kulamawe and Gootu had occupied and depended on the Magado grazing reserve for generations, adding that the land had sustained their livelihoods for decades.
“Our communities are not opposed to development or national security. We support initiatives that promote peace, security and economic progress. However, development cannot be founded on illegality, disregard for court processes or the dispossession of indigenous communities,” he said.
A statement by the group linked the dispute to a long-running Isiolo-Meru boundary disagreement, saying it predates Kenya’s independence.
The statemement further cited Constitutional Petition No. 511 of 2015, in which Justice Isaac Lenaola acknowledged the existence of a historical land injustice and directed that the matter be addressed through constitutional mechanisms.
He said the National Land Commission (NLC) is yet to complete investigations into the historical injustice, arguing that establishing a permanent police training camp before the process is concluded is legally questionable.
The elders called on the government to immediately suspend any further development or expansion of the Magado Police Training Camp until all pending legal and constitutional processes have been concluded.
“Respect the Constitution, obey court decisions, protect community land and ensure that development proceeds through consultation, legality and justice not through dispossession,” they said.
The protest comes two months after Meru Governor Mutuma M’Ethingia announced that the Meru County Government had donated the land to the National Government for the establishment of the police training camp, saying the facility would help strengthen security operations and address recurring banditry attacks in the region.
Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen welcomed the donation noting the government was ready to partner with county governments to improve security situation of the affected counties.
The CS, speaking during the commissioning of the camp in April this year, said the center had already admitted over 2000 recruits and that some more would be brought to ensure it achieves maximum impact.
