Moi Barracks / Leseru Tebeson Farmers Dispute: The Society Behind the Kamagut-Kiplombe Land Claim

By William Kiptoo

The dispute between the Leseru Tebeson Farmers Society (also reported as Leseru Teberon) and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) over land around Moi Barracks, on the outskirts of Eldoret, is one of the most sensitive land conflicts in Uasin Gishu County. It sits at the intersection of civilian settlement claims and military land use, making it different from ordinary farm disputes in the region. Unlike purely private ownership conflicts, this case involves questions of national security land, alleged settlement allocations, and competing interpretations of how land near military installations should be managed. The society is the main group of civilian claimants in what is usually reported as the Kamagut–Kiplombe dispute.

The land in question lies around Moi Barracks and the Kenya Ordnance Factories Corporation (KOFC), about 20 kilometres outside Eldoret town. Ministry of Lands records reported by the Nation show that the government acquired 16,277 acres in Eldoret between 1976 and 1980 for KOFC and the Moi Barracks Recruits Training School, and compensated the original owners. Part of the land is occupied by KOFC's ammunition factory, known locally as the Eldoret Bullet Factory. Over time, this corridor has developed into a mixed landscape of small-scale farming, settlement plots, and state-controlled land. It is this overlap that has generated tension between different user groups.

The core of the dispute is rooted in competing claims over how land in the area was allocated or designated. The society's members argue that they were allocated land through government processes. They told the National Land Commission in 2018 that their claim goes back to a European settler, Alexander Douglas of Lewa Downs Ltd, who, they said, wrote a will on 19 December 1979 directing that the property be subdivided among about 350 squatters. The executor, Noel Amatasi Lijina, died soon afterwards, and his daughter, Miriam Kibai, became a trustee and member of the society. The society says it received a letter of allotment in 2005. Lease documents show a 99-year lease from 1 January 2006 over land registered as LR No. 11039, later subdivided into LR No. 27206/3 and 27206/4, after a premium of Sh12.75 million was paid. The society told the commission it had paid about Sh24.7 million in total for the two parcels.

On the other hand, the Kenya Defence Forces maintains that land surrounding Moi Barracks forms part of strategic military infrastructure. KDF says it never surrendered the land to anyone and that the society's titles were acquired fraudulently, and a court later revoked a title on the grounds of fraudulent acquisition. From the military's perspective, portions of the land are reserved for security operations, training, and buffer zones necessary for the safety and integrity of the installations. Military authorities have repeatedly objected to civilian settlement within areas they consider operational land. In 2020, a senior officer at Moi Barracks told The Star that it was military land and that the National Land Commission had confirmed this.

The tension arises because the boundaries between civilian settlement land and military land are not always clearly understood on the ground. Over time, civilian farming and settlement expanded close to or into areas that were later identified as security zones. In some cases, families who have lived and farmed in the area for years believe they are legitimate occupants, while state authorities classify portions of the same land as restricted or controlled zones.

This overlap has led to disputes over access and land use. In 2020, the society's leaders, Kibereng Kisorio and Charles Walekhwa, said about 1,200 members claiming more than 4,000 acres were being blocked from the land despite court orders. Farmers argue that government agencies previously allowed settlement or did not clearly demarcate boundaries during earlier allocation phases.

The situation is further complicated by earlier government decisions. In 2002, President Daniel arap Moi ordered the Ministry of Defence to surrender 4,236.34 acres to squatters from the Kamagut and Buheba settlement schemes. According to the Nation, part of that land was grabbed and some squatters remained on military land. Like many parts of Uasin Gishu, land in this corridor passed through multiple administrative stages, including acquisition, settlement schemes, subdivision and informal occupation. These layered processes created gaps between what is occupied on the ground and what is recorded in official land registers.

Another factor shaping the dispute is infrastructure expansion and population pressure. The area has grown because of its closeness to Eldoret town and its transport routes, and part of the disputed land has been used for the Southern Bypass interchange near Moi Barracks. As demand for land increased, pressure mounted on available space, leading to more intensive use of land near sensitive installations.

Security considerations remain central to the dispute. Military installations typically require clear buffer zones for operational safety, and any perceived encroachment into these zones raises national security concerns. At the same time, civilian occupants view long-term settlement and cultivation as evidence of legitimate use rights, especially where no enforcement action was taken in earlier years.

The cost of leaving the dispute unresolved has been high. Confrontations over access to the land led to deaths in December 2021 and November 2023. In March 2024, Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced a deal giving about 5,000 acres to residents, with title deeds promised within months. In October 2026, two and a half years later, no titles had been found on record for the residents. For the full story, see History of the Kamagut-Kiplombe Kenya Army Land Dispute and Two and a Half Years After Kiplombe Land Deal Was Announced, No Titles Found on Record.

Resolution is difficult because each side relies on a different form of legitimacy. Civilians rely on occupation, wills, allotment letters and leases, while the state relies on its acquisition of the land and its security designation. The result is a landscape of uncertainty where parts of the area remain contested in practice.

The Moi Barracks / Leseru Tebeson dispute therefore reflects a broader challenge in Kenya's land governance system: how to manage land located near strategic installations in areas that have also experienced long-term civilian settlement. It is not only a legal issue but also a planning and security issue, where competing land uses must be balanced against each other.

The dispute is defined by three overlapping realities. First, historical settlement and agricultural use by civilian farmers. Second, state security claims tied to Moi Barracks and military operations. Third, unclear boundary demarcations that have allowed both systems to coexist in tension. Until these three realities are reconciled through clear mapping, agreed land use and titles that people can see on record, the land around Moi Barracks will remain a zone of uncertainty on the outskirts of Eldoret.

Sources

• "Squatters claim settler offered KDF land to them", Nation, 1 November 2018
• "KDF, farmers dispute 4,000 acres near Moi Barracks in Eldoret", The Star, 14 September 2020
• "Duale meets Uasin Gishu leaders over land dispute with KDF", Kahawatungu, 28 March 2024
• "KDF finally ends 48-year land battle with Kiplombe, Kamagut residents", Citizen Digital, March 2024

William Kiptoo writes about peace, land and memory at Journeys of a Peace Worker.