Trans Nzoia: Bees Disrupt New County Headquarters Land Demarcation Exercise
- An aggressive swarm of bees on Tuesday, August 19, disrupted a demarcation exercise for the piece of land hosting the Trans Nzoia county headquarters
- The bees emerged immediately after the team of 15 officials led by the county secretary started the exercise
- Earlier, the county officials had engaged in a bitter exchange with a group of youths who had attempted to block the exercise
- A former Member of Parliament has claimed ownership of the piece of land, which the county insists was meant for public use
An exercise meant to demarcate the new Trans Nzoia county headquarters land in Kitale town has been abruptly disrupted.
Source: Original
This came after an aggressive swarm of bees descended and stung a team from the county government that was taking part in the exercise.
The team of around 15 people, led by the Trans Nzoia Country Secretary Truphosa Amere, was forced to run to safety following the bizarre incident.
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Amere and her team of heavily built enforcement officers were demarcating the land as part of the measures to prevent it from encroachment by some people who have claimed to be the legitimate owners.
How Trans Nzoia county officials were attacked by bees
Shortly after the team, on a caterpillar, started demarcating the land, the bees emerged, attacked, and stung them.
They were seen fighting off the dangerous insects as they ran away for their safety.
Earlier, a group of armed youths had camped at the disputed land in an attempt to prevent the demarcation. This led to a bitter exchange between the youths and enforcement officers.
Some journalists who had gone to cover the confrontation between the two factions were also forced to run to safety.
After the bees dispersed, normalcy was restored in the area, although the armed youths were seen roaming around the county government headquarters.
The driver of the caterpillar meant for the exercise later returned to the scene and drove it away.
Who has claimed ownership of Trans Nzoia county headquarters land?
The incident comes barely a month after a former Member of Parliament claimed ownership of the piece of land where the new county headquarters’ building was constructed.
According to the former MP, Philip Okundi, he acquired the land in 1994 and has all the legal documents to confirm the same.
Source: Original
Okundi, who is currently a commissioner at the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), however, said he was willing to negotiate with the county on how he could be compensated.
"Engineer Philip Okundi has a valid lease title deed. The lease period is 99 years. If the County Government of Trans Nzoia claims ownership of plot 161/162 of Block 6, they should produce any legitimate documents. I know they cannot because they do not have one," the former Rangwe MP’s property manager, Raphael Ololo, told the press in Kitale on July 24.
The county, however, dismissed the claims and insisted that the land was originally set aside for public use.
Bees attack Limuru traders
Previously, TUKO.co.ke reported about a similar incident in Limuru town where an attack from bees left many traders injured.
The bees are said to have invaded the market, giving traders and their customers a hard time.
They eventually managed to contain the situation using smoke from jikos to drive them away from the market.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
Joshua Cheloti (Editorial assistant) Joshua Cheloti is a multi-skilled journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. He holds a Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication and is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media and Communication at Mount Kenya University. At TUKO, he's an editorial assistant. Before TUKO, he worked at Nairobi Review as an editorial writer, at Hope Media (Hope TV and Hope FM) as a correspondent in Eldoret, Hivisasa.com digital content editor and online writer, at Biblia Husema Broadcasting (BHB), Eldoret as Radio Presenter. Email: Joshua.cheloti@tuko.co.ke
Emanuel Tarus I am professional multi-media journalist with eight years experience as a field-based correspondent. Integrity, objectivity and adherence to ethical standards are my guiding principles in journalism. I am based in Trans Nzoia county and very passionate about gender, crime, environment and climate change reporting. I am also interested in health, human interest, development, leadership and governance beats. In the future, I would like to specialize in diplomacy and geopolitics reporting to expand my reporting scope.
