Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani has put land grabbers and speculators in the coastal county on notice.
Governor Achani says the devolved government in collaboration with relevant state agencies will repossess hundreds of acres of public land grabbed by private developers and cartels.
Achani decried the trend where land grabbers, speculators and cartels were targeting public land noting that their days were numbered no matter how highly-placed.
Recently, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered parcels of land forming parts of the idyllic Chale Island in Kwale which the commission said were fraudulently hived off.
EACC action followed a court ruling, which determined that the 32-acre piece of land had been unlawfully seized by a group of private investors.
The Governor says land is a source of material wealth but the evil activities of land grabbers have made land a scarce commodity.
Achani welcomed recent pledges by President William Ruto to resolve the emotive land issue at the coast setting aside Sh. 1 billion settlement trust fund that will be used to buy land from absentee landlords as part of a resettlement plan in the region.
Thousands of coast residents are living as squatters on parcels of land, whose owners are said to have relocated abroad or were allocated land before Kenya’s independence.
She restated her administration’s commitment against land grabbing in whatever form and guise anywhere in the coastal county.
Achani has called for cooperation from the stakeholders to hasten the recovery process of all stolen public assets in the hands of unscrupulous individuals.
Governor Achani also issued a stern warning to absentee landlords who own large tracts of land in the county and asked them to either develop it or risk having it repossessed by the county government.
The governor contends that the absentee landlords were partly to blame for the slow development of the coastal county.
She says the National Land Commission (NLC) has been unable to resolve the problem of absentee landlords hindering development.
“We want to work with relevant agencies like the NLC and EACC to ensure the efficient, equitable and sustainable use of land resources within Kwale,” she said.
Achani cited incidents where private developers were encroaching on public beaches and protected marine zones along the coastline underscoring the need to checkmate the activities of land grabbers.
Speaking in Kinondo ward, Msambweni sub county, Achani asked those who have illegally acquired huge chunks of land to surrender them or have them forcefully repossessed.
Achani noted that the position of the devolved unit against land grabbing has not changed and advised those hell-bent on the habit to stop forthwith.
She says the devolved government wants to free land for domestic and foreign investors as a source of economic growth noting that the grabbing menace was running counter to efforts to make Kwale preferred destination for investment, business and tourism.
“Land grabbing is not new, it’s actually a practice that has been going on since independence in 1963 but we are determined to deal squarely with,” she said, adding that they will not sit and watch as land grabbers and speculators wreak havoc on residents.
She went further ‘as a devolved government we will do all we can to see that we deal with people illegally acquiring land’.
Achani says the county would conduct a land audit that would expose those who had illegally acquired land rendering many become squatters.
Kinondo MCA Juma Maone says land grabbing has reached alarming proportions and urged relevant authorities to take measures to stop the nefarious activities of land grabbers who are driven by greed.
“We want the relevant state agencies to pay attention to land grabbing so that the livelihoods of our people whose only means of sustenance is their land are not undermined,” he said.
The MCA wants the county to have land around public beaches surveyed and title deeds processed not only to protect from land grabbers but also preserve the tourism heritage.
“We want the county authorities to stop the harassment and bullying of our people by the land grabbers and speculators,” said Maone.
By Hussein Abdullahi
