News
Buyer Beware: Locals Warning Investors Against Buying Land In Contested Olorgesailie Prehistoric Site
The Kajiado Maa Museum and Centre for Indigenous Cultures (MMCIC) speaking for the locals, has cautioned against the rush to subdivide and sale of land within the protected Olorgesailie prehistoric site in Kajiado West Sub-county.
MMCIC has now petitioned members of the World Heritage Committee Advisory Bodies, the National Museums Of Kenya, the Kenya National Commission for Unesco, the Ministry of Lands and other government agencies in an effort to stop further subdivision and sale of the land.
According to the petition, A local land-buying company is said to have questionably acquired 40 acres in the area. The sale of the 50 feet by 100 feet plots in a project to construct residential homes that is now in its third phase has sparked protests from elders and other stakeholders. Subdivision is prohibited in the property that is registered as communal land.
“We want the developer to halt the [project] until a cultural asset mapping is undertaken, development of buffer maps [done] and the [project linked] to culture, tourism and economic development of the area as per the UNWTO [United Nations World Tourism Organisation] frameworks,”the petition, reads in part.
MMCIC has accused the land-buying company of using underhand means to obtain its approvals for subdivision, claiming that the maps clearly identify Oltepesi village as the project site while, in reality, the sale is going on in Olorgesailie.
Olorgesailie was voted the Best Tourism Village by UNWTO during the 24th session of its General Assembly in Madrid, Spain, last year. The award acknowledged efforts by locals to embrace ecotourism as a path to sustainable development.
The Olorgesailie prehistoric site was discovered by Louis and Mary Leakey in the 1940s before being excavated by Glynn Isaac for his dissertation research during the 1960s. A museum was gazetted in 1970.
According to experts, the proposed development will interfere with critical archaeological evidence that forms the basis for its nomination as a world heritage site.
According to local lore, Olorgesailie means the place where their ancestors were buried by volcanic eruptions from Suswa and Longonot mountains many years ago. They believe that the site used to be a freshwater lake with their ancestors living in nearby human settlements.
The prehistoric site offers a unique insight into the evolution of early humans and contains evidence of continuous human activities from 1.2 million to 490,000 years ago.
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenya’s most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram
PROFITING FROM THE MISSILES: The Kenyan Tycoons Cashing In on the War Against Iran
MONEY BAGS: How ODM Spent Sh40 Million on 3,000 Delegates in Nairobi’s NDC
The Debt They Would Not Pay: How Standard Group Ducked Sh50 Million In Regulatory Fee For Years, Then Called It A Witch-Hunt
Millions Angry With Trump Expected To Fill American Streets
City Lawyer Kimani Wachira Caught Up In Bribery Web Fights Claims
Men Linked to Akasha Drug Dynasty Charged With Death Threats and Assault at Nairobi Nightclub
You Will Pay: KRA To Monitor M-Pesa Transactions Of ‘Nil-Returns’ Filers
The Diplomat, the Mine Giant, and the Conservancy: Why Kenyans Are Questioning Britain’s Hand in Lewa
THE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
Israel’s Military At Risk Of Collapse, Chief Warns
Kenya Strips Dutch Climate Body of Diplomatic Immunity Amid Donor Fraud Scandal and Allegations of Executive Capture
Tuju Forcefully Removed From His Karen Property With Masked Officers In Unmarked Vehicles In Early Morning Raid
How Little-Known Pesa Print, Linked to State House Tycoons, Won NTSA Tender Worth Sh42 Billion in Traffic Fines
Ex-Inchcape Kenya CEO Sanjiv Shah Charged With Bank Fraud
Nowhere To Hide: Govt Begins Tracing Hustler Fund Defaulters Using National IDs To Recover Unpaid Sh12 Billion
Named: Havi Says Mutava Confessed He Was Collecting The Bribe For Lady Justice Josephine Mongare, So Why Is JSC Still Silence?
The Man With The Golden Pen: How NLC’s Joel Ombati Is Accused Of Masterminding Kenya’s Biggest Infrastructure Land Heist
Waweru’s Bank Pockets Sh1.16 Billion from KPC IPO While Ordinary Kenyans Fled the Sale
‘They Will Eat You Alive’: Retired Teacher Warns Against Bashy African Credit as Sh500,000 Loan Spirals Into Sh1.5 Million Fight
THE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
-
Business2 weeks ago‘They Will Eat You Alive’: Retired Teacher Warns Against Bashy African Credit as Sh500,000 Loan Spirals Into Sh1.5 Million Fight
-
Business3 days agoTHE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
-
Investigations1 week agoTHE RUTO HAND IN TUJU’S FALL: How a President-Linked Petroleum Baron Walked Away With Sh3.5 Billion Karen Land for Sh450 Million
-
Business7 days agoBig Shame: EY and PwC Found Guilty of Fraud and Corruption in Kenya as World Bank Bans Lay Bare Scandal Inside the Global Audit Elite
-
Investigations2 weeks agoInvestigations Reveal The Depth Of Rot In City Hall’s Garbage Collection Tender To Corrupt Ghanaian Firm
-
News2 days agoMen Linked to Akasha Drug Dynasty Charged With Death Threats and Assault at Nairobi Nightclub
-
Investigations2 weeks agoRevealed: How Kibaki and His Men Stole Raila’s Victory in the 2007 Election
-
Business2 weeks agoCyber Attack: Inside the USD4 Million Equity Bank Heist in Rwanda