PHOTO | PSCU President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto and First Lady Margaret when they landed at Moi International Airport, Mombasa, on August 27, 2013.
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Action has been taken to reduce tension at the Coast ahead of the issuing of 60,000 title deeds to the landless this week.
Local politicians had threatened to disrupt the ceremony, to be presided over by President Kenyatta, claiming the title deeds would not be issued to people from the coast.
On Tuesday, Lands, Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Mariamu El Maawy said: “Due diligence has been carried out to come up with the list. We have probed the list of residents with the full involvement of the local people and I can assure you that those who will receive the deeds are drawn from all the six counties.”
Elected leaders in Mombasa, Lamu, Kilifi and Kwale counties wanted President Kenyatta not to issue the title deeds until it was ascertained they would be given to people from the coast.
The leaders had threatened to hold a parallel rally.
The PS denied reports that the resettlement was politically motivated and said that the Cabinet only passed the resolution days after Deputy President William Ruto had toured Kwale County and promised that the landless would be resettled.
“This did not start yesterday, we have been working on this for quite some time now and that is why the Deputy President had all the confidence to make the announcement based on the report we had given him,” Ms Maawy said.
Addressing journalists at Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho’s office on Tuesday, the leaders said the plan to issue title deeds was political mischief.
“We fear that the 60,000 title deeds will go to people from outside this region,” Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir said. “Much as we welcome the move to end the perpetual problem of squatters at the Coast, we are suspicious because it is shrouded in secrecy.”
PARALLEL RALLY
Kisauni MP Rashid Bedzimba said local leaders must be fully involved or they would hold a parallel rally near the venue of the presidential ceremony in Mombasa.
The MPs demanded a list of those who would receive the deeds so they can scrutinise them.
The MPs demanded a list of those who would receive the deeds so they can scrutinise them.
The county governments of Lamu, Kilifi and Kwale have all called for the list.
Last week, the governors of Kwale and Kilifi, Mr Salim Mvurya and Mr Amason Kingi, called for postponement of the resettlement alleging disputes over the real and rightful holders of the titles.
The two also said the government should address the matter of stalled settlements in the two counties.
Mr Mvurya said issuing deeds at this time would spur a new land grabbing at the Coast.
Lamu Governor Issa Timamy has also asked the national government to consult the county leadership first.
National Land Commission chairman Mohamed Swazuri, however, said the agency was not involved in plans to issue title deeds in Coast.
Dr Swazuri said he did not know why the commission had been by-passed.
“You had better ask those issuing the title deeds because we as a commission do not have any information or details”, Dr Swazuri said on Tuesday.
The title deeds to be issued, he said, are for settlement schemes and adjudication areas. He, however, noted that the documents were not for recently-allocated land.
Additional reporting By Peter Leftie
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