Surrender unlawfully acquired land or else...Mwandawiro warns

Investors in Taita-Taveta county who are holding onto huge chunks of land acquired illegally have been asked to forfeit it to the local communities or face Mugabe- like invasion.

Addressing wananchi at Mwatunge outpost in Mwatate sub-county during a harambee in aid of survey work for Mwasima Mbuwa Welfare Association, former Wundanyi MP and SDP national chairman Mwandawiro Mghanga said Taita- Taveta needs resolute leaders like Zimbambew’s Robert Mugabe who are willing to stand firm against investors oppressing local communities on their ancestral land.

“It is inhuman and unacceptable for investors to continue using outdated colonial laws to continue sitting on thousands of acres of land while locals live as squatters on their ancestral land,” raved Mwandawiro, adding that a time had come for Mwatate people to get back land acquired unlawfully from them by a sisal farm in Singila and Majengo villages.

Mghanga pointed out that the process of surveying the land which was unfairly annexed by the sisal farm has been dragging for the last nine years because local leaders had been compromised and therefore could not champion the rights of the squatters.

                                                      hypocrites

“Most of your leaders have only been paying lip service to your land problems but let me warn you that they only use the land problem as a political campaign tool but when they get into leadership, they turn against you after lining their pockets with huge amounts of money from the investors,” warned Mghanga.

The former Wundanyi lawmaker said Taita-Taveta people could only support the call for a referendum to amend the constitution being championed by the Cord brigade only if the issue of land in Coast region was a top- most priority.

He pointed out that 62 per cent of Taita- Taveta land had been taken up by the Tsavo national park while a huge chunk of the remaining percentage was either occupied by sisal farms or private ranches, leaving locals virtually landless.

The former University of Nairobi firebrand student leader who was a thorn in the flesh of Moi’s regime, asked locals to brace themselves to acquire land occupied by sisal  farms in Voi,Taveta and Mwatate, should all legal mechanisms to address the historical injustices fail.

Mghanga took a swipe at leaders in the county voted under the Cord umbrella for failing to make their voices “heard above the crowd” as far as land matters are concerned.

“Governor John Mruttu,  MPs Johnes Mlowa(Voi)Andrew Mwadime(Mwatate)  Thomas Mwadeghu(Wundanyi) and Joyce Lay(Women Rep) were all elected on Cord ticket but their voices have hardly been heard when it comes to matters to deal with the thorny land problems in the county,” said Mghanga.

Instead he alleged that Taita-Taveta had been turned into a “cauldron of corruption” while no tangible developments had been undertaken since the county government took shape more than three years ago.

“Since the Taita- Taveta county government started, more than 11.2 billion shillings has been channeled to the county but when one goes on the ground, less than 5 per cent has been used for development projects”, said Mghanga.

Speaking during the event Wundanyi MP Thomas Mwadeghu called for the establishment of an inventory on all land who rightful ownership was in doubt so that investigations could be conducted and those found to have been acquired illegally reverted back to the rightful owners.

Captions:

1:Former Wundanyi MP Mwandawiro Mghanga(right) with Mwasima Mbuwa Welfare Association secretary Mnjala Mwaluma.

2:The disputed Singila village in Mwatate unlawfully taken up by a sisal farm