President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the Muhammad Swazuri-led National Land Commission (NLC) to revoke the allocation of the Kibarani dump site piece of land to a private developer and instead hand it back to the Mombasa county government.
In a meeting with Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho and Cabinet Secretaries Najib Balala (Tourism) and Keriako Tobiko (Environment), Uhuru said the ongoing decommissioning of the 80-acre dump site continues and the land be used for recreational purposes in bid to make Mombasa a top tourist destination.
Kibarani which the county government plans to turn it into a recreational ground, is said to have been reclaimed by private developers as the relocation of the dump site continues.
Addressing the press after the meeting on Monday, Joho challenged the private developers who claim to own the land to surrender their title deeds to the County government.
"Some individuals grabbed the land and came up with ownership claims as soon as I ordered county officers to reclaim the dump site. They saw the county government move in to clear Kibarani, which had become an eyesore. They claimed it was their land and had a right to build a wall around it,” the governor said.
Joho who has occasionally been accused of ignoring cases of land grabbing along the Indian Ocean creek, warned that he will not be disrupted by naysayers who want to divert the agenda of putting up a green park at Kibarani.
“We decided today that we will take all grabbed land back to the public. So, if you are holding a title for Kibarani, find your way to the National Land Commission or any national or county government office and hand it back. You’ll do nothing on that parcel. Be a good man or woman, whoever you are," Joho added.
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