A section of elders in the Magarini constituency of Kilifi County have thanked President William Ruto for initiating efforts to resolve the persistent squatter menace in the Coast region and have urged governors in the counties to take up the challenge and conclusively address the problem.
Led by former Magarini Member of Parliament Joseph Kasena Yeri and former Sabaki Councillor Timothy Mwambogo, the elders called on the governors and all relevant officials to seize this opportunity and make the squatter question in the region a thing of the past.
The elders are members of a committee established to address the squatter issue in Magarini following a meeting held by all Coast Governors and Senate Speaker Amason Kingi at a Malindi hotel recently.
The governors have given the committees seven days to finalise their reports and present them to the relevant officials; however, the Magarini elders have stated that this timeframe is insufficient to adequately and conclusively tackle the problem.
They urged the officials to conduct thorough public participation on the matter and allow ample time for those affected to understand the government’s initiative so that the efforts to resettle the landless in the region may succeed this time.
Speaking to journalists in Malindi town, the elders also called on the government to utilise relevant reports on land, including the Ndungu Report and that of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), to resolve the issue of landlessness in the region.
During the recent Kilifi Investment Conference, President Ruto met with all six governors in the region and mandated them to take a leading role in resolving the matter.
In response, the governors have formed committees at the constituency levels and set timelines for them to list the squatters and the land they occupy—whether public or private—for government action.
Mr. Yeri requested that the government grant the committees two to three weeks to sensitise the community and help them understand the process before asking them to provide their names.
Mr. Mwambogo urged the governors to proceed with caution as they attempt to resolve the squatter problem, noting that previous efforts had failed because those tasked with tackling it did not consider the historical context of the issue.
“I urge our governors to be very cautious because the squatter question has a long history. We have seen the efforts of past regimes. We have witnessed the formation of various commissions such as the TJRC and the Ndungu commission and lately the National Lands Commission (NLC) but the problem has remained thorny,” he said.
Mr. Jefwa Karema Jefwa, a member of the committee, called for an end to the issuance of title deeds for land already occupied by squatters, stating that this practice has complicated the squatter issue.
“I am calling for an end to the issuance of title deeds in Nairobi for land already being occupied. We as a committee will not accept people who will come with title deeds for land they do not even know, but will endeavour to settle only genuine squatters,” he said.
On her part, Sylvia Jumwa stated that women bear the greatest burden of the squatter problem and called for the expedited process for locals to legally own land, thereby protecting them from the indignity of being evicted by individuals holding ownership documents from Nairobi.
By KNA NEWS
