President William Ruto has ordered the immediate ejection of land grabbers from government land in Kiambu County.
Speaking during a working tour in Gatundu North Constituency, the Head of State tasked the Central Regional Commissioner to ensure that the order is implemented, lamenting that the occupation is hindering the construction of affordable houses.
The President revealed that he will return to the county in December to launch the construction of 10,000 houses after the land grabbers are forced out.
"They (land grabbers) have made fake titles and they are planning on taking the land. I want to tell the Regional Commissioner here that all those who have grabbed government land to be removed," the Head of State ordered.
"We want to build houses so that Kenyans can live with dignity. All those sitting on government land must be moved immediately."
Ruto made the remarks after area Governor, Kimani Wamatangi, lamented that tycoons had grabbed several parcels of land earmarked for government projects.
According to Wamatangi, a number of former politicians are also complicit in the land grabbing and have positioned themselves to take over the land.
However, he did not reveal the names of the former politicians and tycoons responsible for the grabbing.
The Governor added that he was pleased with Ruto's directive noting it will allow the Affordable Housing agenda to go on without any challenges.
"The biggest problem that I have been having in this county is with these land grabbers. In Kiambu, we went to an Affordable Housing site and half of 4 acres had been taken by a tycoon," he said.
On the other hand, Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah, who also hails from the county cautioned land grabbers against using court cases to scuttle the government's development agenda.
The National Assembly Majority Leader advised the Governor to forward a list mentioning all the land grabbers to the Head of State to allow him to take action.
"Give the President the list so that he can deal with them. He has already said that they only have three options," the MP stated.
