The Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) has strongly opposed a proposal to subdivide and allocate 250,000 acres of public land under its management in Garsen Constituency, Tana River County, citing ongoing investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
While appearing before the Parliamentary Lands Committee, Agriculture Principal Secretary Dr. Paul Ronoh stated that there is no official government directive permitting the subdivision or allocation of the land. This comes despite claims that the process had been initiated following decisions made during the administrations of former Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.
Dr. Ronoh emphasized that ADC has consistently defended the retention of the land due to its critical role in national food production and agricultural development. He further revealed that there has been no public participation exercise or parliamentary approval to support any proposed distribution of the land.
He added that the Cabinet recently classified the area as part of a strategic food security project, a move that strengthens the government’s position that the land should remain under ADC’s control for large-scale agricultural activities and to safeguard the country’s long-term food production goals.
