Land disputes leading cause of insecurity and elders' murder in Kilifi, official

County Commissioner Magu Mutindika on Sunday cited land disputes as the leading cause of conflict and murder of elderly residents in the region.

He said senior citizens are often killed over allegations that they practice sorcery but noted the actual motivation is to get then out of the way in order to inherit land.

Speaking during the Kilifi County Dialogue Agenda, Mutindika called upon the National Land Commission to review the Land Act to be able to address land disputes in the county.

The county commissioner warned against killing senior citizens on claims of witchcraft link.

“We have come to agreement with the security team that if there is any elderly who will be killed, all family members will tell us what transpired during the killings. In most cases, family members refuse to disclose any information saying they don’t know who the killer is yet they were sleeping in the same house with the deceased,” said Mutindika.

Last month, Parliamentary Committee for Land chaired by Rachael Nyamai toured Kilifi North and South constituencies on a fact-finding mission in a move to address historical land injustices.

According to Ms Nyamai, the concerns from the locals on land injustices were genuine that needed to be addressed.