Principal Secretary (PS) State Department for Planning Saitoti Torome has called on the Maa community not to sell their land recklessly as it will increase the levels of poverty in their counties.
Speaking after attending a church service at Eor-Okule Catholic Church in Narok East Sub County, Torome said many tribal clashes experienced in different parts of the country were because of carelessness in land sale that left the initial landowners landless.
He observed that landlessness has become a common phenomenon in the country and it exposes vulnerable residents to rogue politicians who take advantage of their desperate situation to incite them to war.
Torome instead, challenged the locals to utilize their huge chunks of land wisely to plant crops like wheat, barley, potatoes, maize, beans and peas that do well in the area.
“When you produce enough food for your family and sell the rest to earn an income, you will not have time to be incited to war by selfish politicians who thrive in crisis,” he said.
The soft-spoken PS called on the pastoralists’ communities to embrace cohesion by engaging landowners before grazing on their private property to prevent conflict during the dry spell.
Few months ago, Narok West Member of Parliament Gabriel Tongoyo lamented over increased reckless land sales where the locals give out their land at cheap money to people from outside counties.
Tongoyo spoke at Embiti Primary School in Narok West Sub County, during a prize giving day where he reiterated that, those who buy land reap millions as they buy at a cheap price of up to Sh 70,000.
It is true the sale of land is between willing buyer and willing seller but it is also unacceptable for people to sell this precious resource and end up begging from those they sold their land to.
He also called on the locals to utilize their lands in building commercial structures or use their land for farming so as to earn a decent livelihood.
“Why is it that other people from far away counties buy your land and develop to earn millions from it yet, you locals cannot do anything in your land that can earn you money? It is time we wake up and compete with other counties to develop our county,” he said.
By Ann Salaton
