Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
Land belonging to investors that stays for five or more years without being developed may be repossessed, Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu has said.
The vast parcels of land, he said, will be reclaimed and redistributed among residents of the county.Mruttu said there was no point in surrendering land to investors who are not keen to develop it.“Taita Taveta is among counties recently hit by famine,” he said on Friday at a meeting with local leaders.“Why would we suffer because of lack of food when there are large chunks of land lying idle? Any investor allocated land and takes five or more years to develop it may have to forfeit. Land will be given to people ready to put it into use.”Taita Taveta is among counties where private individuals own large pieces of undeveloped land.Some investors own land running into thousands of acres amid locals living as squatters.Mruttu spoke a day after the Taita Taveta County Assembly Lands Committee called on the National Lands Commission (NLC) to intervene and solve land problems in the county.Committee chairperson Flomence Mshila said land issues have remained unresolved in the county despite frequent visits by NLC officials.Mshila said thousands of squatters in Taita Taveta should be resettled to allow them freely utilise land to earn a living.He said large parcels of land supposed to be distributed among squatters remain unutilized as locals struggle to fight food insecurity.“They (NLC officials) have been coming here. All this time they have been telling us people will be given land but nothing has since been done,” Mshila said on Thursday.