Ngilu, Swazuri unfit for office, says team

A Parliamentary committee wants Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu and land commission boss Muhammad Swazuri sacked over increased cases of grabbing.

The lands committee says it is unhappy with the way the two have handled the issue and must now leave office.

Chairman Alex Muiru said his team will petition President Uhuru Kenyatta to remove them failure to which they will do so from Parliament.

“They are not handling land transactions as expected. They have failed to deal with increased cases of land grabbing and are instead playing games with this sensitive matter,” Mr Muiru said yesterday.

“As MPs, we shall crack the whip. The President should make them pack and go. They are encouraging land grabbing by keeping quiet over the cases,” said Mr Muiru.

“That is the direction we are likely to take because there are many Kenyans who can serve these offices diligently. We cannot employ an activism approach in land disputes the way these are doing. They must follow the law.”

Mr Muiru accused Ms Ngilu and Dr Swazuri of only pretending to work only when they realise members of the public are ahead of the game or when they have common selfish interests.

The MPs also poked holes in their supposed truce saying they only come together to dupe Kenyans.

Mr Muiru spoke when his team visited a piece of land near State House, Nairobi, which is at the centre of ownership dispute. He questioned how the government identified a contractor who is currently putting up a wall round the two and a half acre land.

“They are putting the government in the public court when they don’t talk. One cannot wake up and say land has been grabbed and decide to repossess it,” said Mr Muiru.

CONSTANT THREATS

A Mr Ismael Ibrahim, who said he was representing Mr Julius Kitur, said to be the genuine owner of the land, told the committee that he (Kitur) was living in fear due to constant threats from people pushing him to surrender the original title deed.

He said unscrupulous business people claimed Mr Kitur was dead and faked a death certificate then sold the land to an Ethiopian in 2005.

“They also presented a fake hospital bill of Sh3.5 million in their efforts to convince the buyer that they had express permission to sell the land,” said Mr Ibrahim.

“Mr Kitur later discovered his land had been sold without his consent when he came to pay land rates,” he said.

Mr Muiru said they would summon Ms Ngilu, Mr Kitur and any other person mentioned.

The MPs fear that the government could attract many land related suits and lose a lot of money due to failure by Ms Ngilu and Dr Swazuri to effectively handle land issues in Kenya.