Monday, January 2, 2012

Orengo is not sincere on Dunga land, say Imams



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Coast province leaders have claimed that the Lands Minister James Orengo ''is joking'' with the local people on land matters. They said that the minister’s recent activities on land matters in the province were not genuine. According to the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya Kilifi county Coordinator, Ali Hussein, the minister was not genuine in telling residents of Dunga Unuse and Kwa Bulo to stay on disputed pieces of land.
Speaking to the media in Mtwapa at the weekend, Hussein said: ''Now that the country is nearing election time, politicians have started to use land issues as a campaign tool as coastal people suffer.'' “It was so ironical to see the minister make those remarks while addressing evicted people. It is very clear to him that these people are desperate and need his help. That is why he just said that to please them,” he said.
Hussein also hit out the local politicians who want Provincial Commissioner Ernest Munyi kicked out of the area over the land disputes, saying the former were using the land issues as a campaign tool. He observed that the politicians have failed to address problems of the local residents despite being in Parliament for long. “If these leaders are genuine enough, they could have tabled a bill to solve land issues in the Coast other than to wait for election period to start running up and down that they are looking for a solution to the land problem,” he said.
Coast Bishops’ Chair Lawrence Chai also told Orengo to vet all private investors to ascertain that lands they own are genuine. “If only the minister was genuine, in all this years he has been in the cabinet, he could have revoked title deeds of investors who were and are still allocated lands irregularly,” he said
On the same note, Maendeleo ya Wanawake Coast region chairperson Sureya Roble Hersi also accused the minister of behaving like an activist when dealing with land issues at the coast. Sureya said that by telling evictees at Kwa Bulo and Dunga Unuse to stay put on the disputed land, Orengo playing politics. “Orengo is taking the Coastal people for a ride. How can he see people suffer and he is only playing politics? I wonder why a minister can bring activism in a sensitive land issue,” she said.
Sureya, who aspires to become the Mombasa County women representative described as "funny and ironical' for Orengo to feign ignorance that the High Court had already issued eviction orders. She said Orengo could have issued the residents with title deeds or advised the area leaders to appeal against the court order instead of telling the residents not to move.

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