Cord MPs oppose President Kenyatta titles order

Cord MPs have asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to keep off the revocation of title deeds for land allegedly illegally acquired in Lamu.

The 31 MPs, who spoke through Minority Leader Francis Nyenze and Lamu County MP Shakila Abdalla, told a news conference at Parliament Buildings that the issue had been politicised.

They said neither President Kenyatta nor his deputy, Mr William Ruto, had the moral authority to lead a discussion on land issues.

Mr Nyenze said Cord wanted land disputes to be resolved in line with the recommendations of the Ndung’u Commission and the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission reports.

“We know the Constitution gives the National Land Commission powers to deal with such matters.

“The President cannot revoke land titles and neither can a Cabinet secretary,” Mr Nyenze said hours before the National Assembly suspended its ordinary sittings to discuss the Lamu land issue.

RESIDENTS' CONCERNS

Ms Abdalla said of the 500,000 acres President Kenyatta ordered be repossessed, 230,000 were owned by local communities through Nyongoro, Boni, Amu and Kibokoni ranches.

She said the audit and revocation of titles should be extended to Lamu islands.

Ms Abdalla said the community also needed to be told who the land would be given to once the titles were revoked.

“Lamu leaders were not involved in this exercise or shown the report. We thought we were going to discuss security issues.”

Last Thursday night, President Kenyatta, in a live address from State House, said he had invited leaders from Lamu to discuss insecurity and land allocation. He ordered the revocation of title deeds for the 500,000 acres near the proposed Lamu port, saying the land had been irregularly allocated.

IRREGULAR ALLOCATIONS

He said the 2011/2012 irregular allocations were partly to blame for the violence that rocked the county two months ago when 65 people were killed in Mpeketoni.

On Tuesday, Mr John Mbadi (Suba, ODM) said judging by the issues Land Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu had been involved in as the minister for Water, she was not the right person to lead the investigations into the land grab allegations.

At the time when she was minister, Mrs Ngilu’s party, Narc, was allied to ODM and fought off claims of corruption in her ministry. Mr Peter Kaluma (Homa Bay Town, ODM) said the President erred in limiting the audit to Lamu to 2011 and 2012.

He said Mrs Ngilu should keep off the Lamu issue and allow a constitutional commission to deal with the matter.

He also said that Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto lacked the moral authority to deal with land matters because their families had been linked to controversial acquisitions before.

'IMPARTIAL COMMISSION'

“Don’t even speak about (Senator James) Orengo. What we are saying is that if anybody caused the problems, let us deal with it whether we are in Cord or Jubilee. Let it be dealt with by an impartial commission,” he said. (READ: Orengo turns guns on Ngilu over land)

Meanwhile, investigations by the Daily Nation indicate that Lamu County Council also played a part in the land mess being witnessed in the county.

The council approved the requests of several firms to be allocated thousands of acres to start farming projects. As a result, the council allocated thousands of acres to companies for multimillion-shilling sugar projects.

Rusken International Limited and Mat International Limited were also allocated thousands of acres for similar projects. The companies were given five years to develop the land or their leases would be revoked.

The chairman of the Coast Lands Right Lobby Group, Mr Haji Mwakio, yesterday said residents expected to see more nullification of titles for land acquired illegally.

“There are similar cases in Tana River, Kilifi, Kwale and Taita Taveta where residents have been reduced to squatters,” he said and accused Ministry of Lands officials of making millions of shillings through shady deals. (READ: Jubilee leaders demand arrests over Lamu land)

Additional reporting by Mazera Ndurya and Galgalo Bocha