Aasai

LEADERS in the Coast region have urged President William Ruto to fulfill his promise to resolve land disputes in the region. The issue of land grabbing and squatting was one of the issues that President Ruto promised to resolve during the 2022 General Election campaign. 

Last year, President Ruto tasked Cabinet Secretaries Hassan Joho (Ministry of Mining and Marine Economy), Salim Mvurya (Ministry of Sports), and Senate Speaker Amason Kingi to provide guidance on the acquisition of land from chieftains to be distributed to squatters. Earlier this year, the President reiterated the national governments plan to acquire land to be distributed to squatters.

 However, no major steps have been taken to implement the plan. Speaking yesterday at the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital grounds, the politicians said it was important that the problem be resolved as planned. “The biggest problem here in the Coast is land and squatters. We came to you, President, with Joho, Mvurya, and Kingi, and you assured us that you would find money, let the three of them sit down and resolve the issue.

 We still have hope,” said Kisauni MP, Mr Rashid Bedzimba. Kisauni constituency is one of those where there is a large number of people living as squatters. This situation leads to frequent conflicts when people come forward to claim that they are the rightful owners of the land, leading to houses being demolished and residents being evicted.

 A similar position was taken by Mombasa Senator, Mr Mohamed Faki, who suggested that the affordable housing levy be used to buy land from landlords and distribute it to squatters. Mr Faki also suggested that citizens be enabled to apply for money from the Hustler Fund for the purpose of buying land. Responding to the issue, President Ruto assured us that the scheme to buy land for squatters on the Coast is still there. 

He said that there is already an allocation of money in this year’s budget, which will be used to implement the scheme. “On land, we already have a plan and budget for this financial year. 35,000 titles are ready under this plan, and we will ensure that we resolve the land issue as promised,” said Dr Ruto. Meanwhile, the President commended the Mombasa County administration led by Governor Abdulswamad Nassir for the steps taken to improve health services. 

According to the President, it is because of good leadership that Mombasa has managed to become the first place in terms of registration of people in the Public Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), saying 69 percent of Mombasa residents are registered with the national fund. Mr Nassir said his administration would continue to invest in improving health services by building more infrastructure and providing better environments for health workers.