Ministers vow to recover institute land

By patrick beja

Mombasa County

Two cabinet ministers have vowed to recover prime land belonging to a State-owned college in Mombasa.

Acting Minister for Higher Education Hellen Sambili and her Tourism counterpart Najib Balala pledged to secure the disputed land at Shanzu for expansion of Mombasa Technical Training Institute (MTTI).

"I am going to do what I can to ensure this institution does not lose the land earmarked for expansion," Prof Sambili said. She was speaking during MTTI’s graduation ceremony where 350 certificate and diploma students graduated on Wednesday evening.

Initially, MTTI had about 20 acres at Shanzu, but the land has reportedly been grabbed.

Public land

Principal Mursal Barshir called for the Government’s intervention to help recover the land.

According to Mr Balala, a local politician and businessmen were eyeing the institute’s land for commercial purposes. "Mombasa Polytechnic is being transformed into a public university and MTTI is set to become the main polytechnic for Mombasa County. No individual should take away the public land at Shanzu," Balala said.

Meanwhile, Sambili has asked technical training institutions to focus on developing centres of excellence in key sectors of the economy such as manufacturing, tourism and agro-industry. She said the Government has embarked on phase two of the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme that will provide more investment in training.