KENYA FOREST SERVICE AND WORLD REFUGEE AGENCY- UNHCR ENGAGE IN BITTER LAND DISPUTES.

By   Patrick Donald Oucha
In Kenya-East Africa 17/10/2013

The world refugee agency- UNHCR has been embarrassingly  blocked not to access and/or operate from a multi-million shillings modern office block, sitting on an estimated 6  acres of Land reportedly owned by KENYA FOREST SERVICE (KFS)  - in Turkana West.
Speaking on conditions of anonymity,   an official at the site disclosed that “two armed guards from Kenya Forest Service blocked UNHCR   not to attempt moving into a fully finished and luxuriously furnished 19 door modern office block  since the month of April 2013.”  
“We are under instruction not to permit  the world refugee agency UNHCR to access  this affluent property till  a proper memorandum of understanding has been reached. UNHCR has to indicate clearly terms and conditions of stay. We sense a move to grab our land so, lease or tenancy agreement must be signed to protect parties” said a forest official who declined to be named. 
Inspecting the exterior of the abandoned property, October 14/10/2013, the property rates at the levels of Nairobi or Kigali,   with quality   tiles, thick imported curtains ,   standard air conditioner, and every room fully wired to enable uninterrupted power supplies.
When contacted for comment, the associate public information officer UNHCR – Nairobi, Kenya, Mr. Emmanuel  Nyabera,  was not able to independently state the legal position of UNHCR, on how and when the said property was acquired and the officer who authorized funding and construction of a modern office block, an –all- round multi-million wire fence, prior to  clearance with key authorities and legal documentation.
Unconfirmed reports put it that, some top officials from Kenya forest service inspected the said land during the month of July 2013, while under the protection of about fifty forest guards, something that has signaled wave of intimidation across UNCHR compound adjacent to the property under disputes.
Due to the influx of refugees to the UNHCR camp (Names withheld on request) UNHCR is reportedly faced with pressure to acquire more space/land for administrative and camping sites for refugees.
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