Government has issued notice to land grabbers in Western Kenya

Nov 30, 2023 - 13:16

Some of the individuals whose houses were demolished for siting on government land in Milimani estate, Kakamega salvage some of their property. The government demolished the buildings after the defied eviction notice. (Photos by George Kahiga).

Kakamega,

Thursday November 30, 2023

KNA by George Kaiga

The Government is seeking to repossess all public land that has been illegally acquired by private developers in Western region.

Western Regional Commissioner (RC) Samson Irungu Macharia has issued a warning, adding that government has marked all its land in Kakamega, Vihiga, Busia and Bungoma Counties and anybody who has encroached has been ordered to vacate with immediate effect of face forceful eviction.

The warning came in the wake of demolitions in Kakamega’s posh Milimani estate, where several private high-end buildings have been demolished and the land repossessed for public use.

Macharia said the exercise is being undertaken by a multi-agency team comprising technical officials from the ministry of lands, physical planning, land administration and security agencies among others.

Government seeks to recover 70 acres of public land in Kakamega town. Initially demolitions targeted the land on block 3, adding the exercise will be extended to other major town of Vihiga, Busia and Bungoma, where similar cases of illegal land alienation of public land have also been found.

Macharia said leases on land being repossessed had either expired or had been revoked by then Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) and subsequently by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) through a Kenya gazette notice in 2017.

“When we asked for documents of land ownership from individuals, we found out that most of them never followed the required procedure, while others who challenged the eviction in court lost the case but defied orders to vacate” he added.

Hence, the government intends to use the land for putting up an affordable housing project, a key flagship project under the Kenya Kwanza Government among other projects.

Courtesy; KNA