Disgruntled Kishushe ranch members call general meeting
Controversy is brewing over a planned special annual general meeting (AGM) of the giant Kishushe Ranching Cooperative Society in Taita Taveta County.
The society owns the 60,000-acre Kishushe ranch, which is also rich in minerals such as iron ore.
The meeting, scheduled for Friday, was called by some members of the society who argue that the management committee had failed to convene an AGM since 2019.
Mr Benedict Mwabili, a member and one of those who called the meeting, said their decision was prompted by the committee’s laxity in discharging its duties.
“We are planning and setting the agenda for the meeting,” Mr Mwabili said, adding that local administrators were aware of it.
However, the management committee chairman, Elistone Mbela, said they were not involved in the planning of the AGM.
“We are not involved and we continue to manage the ranch,” said Mr Mbela.
He said they were unable to convene an AGM last year because of Covid-19 restrictions though plans were in place to hold one.
“We had called an AGM, we even put up announcements through the radio and posters,” he said.
He added they had been advised against holding the meeting by the area cooperative society officer due to Covid-19 but plans were underway to hold an AGM soon.
“We will convene a meeting in December, but we will have to first consult the Taita Taveta cooperative society officer to give us directions,” Mr Mbela said.
He added that the management committee, though it did not meet last year, was overseeing the ranch and that there had been no problems.
In October, Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja sued to evict eight residents he accused of encroaching on his leased grazing area within the ranch.
Mr Samboja argues that residents who are members of the cooperative had caused his livestock to suffer due to lack of water and pasture though he is the one paying for the land.
"The defendants have encroached and brought cows and goats into the property without any authority and without paying a penny leaving me to suffer losses," he said in court documents.
The governor also accuses one of the defendants, Mr Mwabili, of inciting Kishushe residents to invade the leased area.
"The first defendant has notoriously continued to incite the community around Kushushe to graze their cattle in the ranch that has been leased by the plaintiff telling them that they have the right to do so even if the land does not belong to them," he says in his suit documents. BY DAILY NATION
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