Malindi Member of Parliament (MP), Amina Mnyazi, has cautioned security officers against enforcing evictions on disputed land at the behest of tycoons, saying the government is working to resolve longstanding ownership disputes.
Ms. Mnyazi said the government had allocated billions of shillings to buy land from absentee landlords for the settlement of squatters and urged owners of occupied land to engage the government for inclusion in the acquisition programme to help end the disputes.
She, however, cautioned residents against invading vacant land with the hope that the government would buy off the land and settle them, saying only people who have occupied the disputed parcels for a long time would be considered.
Speaking in Goshi Location after laying the foundation stone for the construction of the local chief’s office, the legislator said that the government had begun the process of acquiring land from absentee landlords to settle squatters and that it would be wrong for squatters to be evicted or their properties demolished.
She warned that any security officers found to collude with landowners and grabbers to evict squatters forcefully or to facilitate demolitions will face disciplinary action, including punitive transfers.
“We cannot be pushing for the settlement of squatters while evictions and demolitions are going on. Any officer who will be involved in evicting locals will have me to reckon with,” she said.
She told land owners whose land is being occupied by squatters to approach the government to be incorporated in the list of those parcels of land to be acquired to end the conflicts.
Malindi Division Assistant County Commissioner, Irene Munyoki, affirmed that the government has an elaborate plan to purchase land and settle those already occupying it, stressing that nobody has the authority to harass residents unless they have engaged the government directly.
Munyoki warned locals to remain where they are and stop invading private land simply because they have heard of government plans to acquire land for squatters, explaining that the parcels targeted for acquisition are those where squatters have lived for many years.
The ACC noted that the process is being carried out jointly with the office of the Member of Parliament to identify and agree on the specific parcels.
Goshi Chief Naftali Birya appealed to the MP to push for the acquisition of four large parcels in his location to settle squatters.
By Emmanuel Masha
