Maasai community clashed over ownership of 3,000 acres donated by the government at Mai Mahiu. [File.]
There was a moment of anxiety in Mai Mahiu, Naivasha, after two splinter groups from the Maasai community clashed over ownership of 3,000 acres donated by the government.
During the attack, six people were injured, two of them seriously, before police moved in and arrested two of the suspects and launched a manhunt for the organisers of the bloody attack.
For years, the area has recorded bloody clashes over the ownership of various parcels of land near the Mai Mahiu Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
In the latest incident, the two splinter groups from the Maasai community clashed over the planned subdivision of the land, with each claiming ownership.
According to an elder, Joshua Ole Sanik, the land in Kedong ranch was donated by the government two years ago and was meant to resettle those displaced by the SEZ.
He said that the process had been politicised, with more families from the neighbouring Narok County illegally seeking to be added to the list of beneficiaries.
“A meeting had been called to address the current impasse, but a splinter group arrived armed with all manner of crude weapons and several people were injured,” he said.