Surveyors ‘irregularly giving themselves land’

By Patrick Beja

Fraudulent surveyors are to blame for the mess in land allocations particularly in settlement schemes, it was disclosed on Thursday.

National Land Commission Chairman Dr Mohamed Swazuri said on Thursday that corrupt surveyors have taken up huge chunks of land at the expense of the landless. He said a former Commissioner of Lands irregularly allocated himself plots in Nairobi.

“Some surveyors are not honest in mapping,” he said at a civil society forum at the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort in Mombasa. The forum was also addressed by Wundanyi MP Thomas Mwadeghu, former Central Bank of Kenya deputy governor Jacinta Mwatela, Mombasa Catholic Archdiocese vicar general Wilyhard Lagho and other leaders.

Squatters rights

Responding to concerns over frequent eviction of squatters at the Coast, Dr Swazuri said such actions should be human. “Evictions should have a human face to avoid violating human rights,” Swazuri said.

At the end of the meeting, participants expected to sign a memorandum to a recently appointed task force on grievances of the people of the region, the National Land Commission, Federation of Kenya Employers, Central Organisation of Trade Unions and the Ministry of Labour, and gubernatorial aspirants for the six Coast counties.