Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi at a past event. [Photo/nation.co.ke]
The Kilifi County Government has asked the National Land Commission (NLC) to probe the impending sale of the 65,000-acre Ganze community ranch. Kilifi Lands CeC Charles Karisa has written a letter to the Muhammad Swazuri-led commission seeking to stop the extension of the lease of the property, which is currently under the management of Giriama Ranching Company Ltd. Karisa argues that the sale of the ranch will render thousands of residents landless, and without a source of income.“Our concern is that the planned transaction will disenfranchise in excess of 30,000 ranch settlers who use the land for their livelihoods and also their residence,” said Karisa, as quoted by the Nation.The CeC also noted that the sale of the ranch, which cuts through Ganze and Kaloleni constituencies, will affect different projects in the area.A section of residents on Friday held peaceful demonstrations after reports emerged that the company intends to sell the property to Al Maktoum, a Dubai-based firm at Sh13 billion. Mr Rajab Menza, one of the company directors, however, said that the sale of the ranch will go as planned since the property has already been privatised.“The planned sale will not be stopped because we are a private company owned by members through shares. We have a loan we want to repay,” said Menza.This comes days after Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi asked the Lands CeC to ensure the property is not sold.“One of the issues raised by the company that wants to sell the land is that it wants to pay a bank loan of Sh250 million after the ranch was used as security by another private firm to secure the money,” said Kingi.“Now, who is the beneficiary in this if it is not a complete rip-off of the community? We shall do everything to ensure that the land remains a community ranch,” he added, as quoted by the daily.