GG Kariuki urges absentee landlords to settle on idle land to stem insecurity in Laikipia
Laikipia Senator GG Kariuki. He has called on owners of idle land in Laikipia to settle on it in order to stem rising insecurity. PHOTO | STEVE NJUGUNA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The senator was speaking during a consultative forum with the residents of Muthengera Location in Laikipia West Constituency.
- The senator added that the Commission on Revenue Allocation would be revising the criteria of sharing out funds o the counties.
- He said the county government would be able to chart a clear road map for development once the absentee landlords settled on their land.
Laikipia Senator GG Kariuki has attributed the wave of insecurity in some parts of the county to absentee landowners.
Mr Kariuki said that more than 40,000 hectares of land in Laikipia West that have been lying idle despite having rightful owners have been attracting illegal grazers and criminals who have been disturbing the residents.
“They steal livestock, destroy property and crops and subject the residents to poverty and displacement.
“The owners of these land should come back and this place will be fully developed and properly planned,” he said.
The senator was speaking during a consultative forum with the residents of Muthengera Location in Laikipia West Constituency.
He said the county government would be able to chart a clear road map for development once the absentee landlords settled on their land.
Saying that the present formulation of revenue allocation does not favour Laikipia, the senator added that the Commission on Revenue Allocation would be revising the criteria of sharing out funds o the counties.
Kenyans, Mr Kariuki said, should not be discouraged by some teething problems facing devolution but they should, instead, demand better services from their elected leaders.
