Don’t sell your ancestral land, Governor Kingi warns Kilifi residents

Kilifi County Governor Amason Kingi (center, facing camera) leaves Karate hall in Watamu after he addressed leaders from various communities who live in Kilifi County as he campaigns for his re-election ahead of the 8th August general elections. [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi has warned Kilifi residents against selling their ancestral land to other people because of poverty.

In apparent defence of his party leader Raila Odinga who has raised similar remarks in regard to the Maasai of Kajiado County, Kingi argued that it is counterproductive for poor people to sell their land and then end up as landless. Kingi says selling land for short term gain is a disservice to future generations in the long term.

Kingi says that there is need to address the root causes of poverty that force poor people to sell their land. The governor says instead of selling land for short term gain Kilifi residents should till or invest in it.

The Governor said this on Saturday at Kaembeni village in Magarini Sub County in the company of Senator Steward Madzayo and ODM aspirants for various elective positions where he had gone to meet community opinion leaders as he seeks to be re-elected.

"There is a lot of poverty among our people and that is why they sell even the pieces of land at a through away price with little knowledge that their actions would later haunt them," he said.

He said that the county government had surveyed and adjudicated 40,000 plots of land ready for distribution of title deeds but the national government through the ministry of lands was delaying to provide the title deeds.

The governor further said there was a ploy by the national government to take over the devolved function of land by introducing and passing a law that reverted powers to produce titles to the ministry of lands instead of the constitutional body National Land Commission (NLC).

"We have been denied the obligation of creating settlement scheme for our people because some people in Nairobi want us governors to beg them so that you get land," he added.

In Magarini, Kingi said Michael Kingi who is flying the ODM parliamentary ticket was the best suited to be elected local MP. The two are brothers.

"Politics and family are two different things all together and by virtue that my brother wants your votes does not mean that politics is a family affair," he told participants adding that his brother will bring a difference in the lives of locals once elected as MP.

He said that it was by coincidence that the two belonged to one party and both managed to secure the ODM ticket for their positions.

He told residents to stick to NASA’s flag bearer Raila Odinga for he stood for the real change that the country needs.