‘Where Is He?’ – Coast Residents Ask Ruto On Land Promises Made 6 Months Ago
On October 20, 2024, during the Mashujaa Day celebrations, President William Ruto made a number of pledges to coast inhabitants, including the resettlement of thousands of landless families.
Barely six months later, a group of coast residents has come up to criticize the president for failing to keep his promise, despite the government allocating Ksh1.5 billion for the exercise.
A group of villagers from Diani and Tiwi in Kwale County has vowed to return to their 1,000 hectares of property, from which they were evicted on January 16, 2021, and resume farming.
According to the residents, those who evicted them haven’t done anything major with the land, leaving it in a state of neglect.
“We have decided to return to this land and continue farming. It has been four years since they evicted us at night, yet nothing has been done, and we have no land to cultivate,” Ann Muthoka, one of the residents, revealed.
The more than 700 residents also denied rumors that they were only seeking 100 hectares, insisting that they wanted the entire 1,000 hectares.
The inhabitants complained that the plants and trees they had left behind had been damaged, forcing them to calculate their losses.
Those who were evicted at night reported losing millions of dollars in property since they were not permitted to remove any goods.
Some have now died as a result of health concerns related to the soil, and efforts to return to their ancestral home have proven useless.
Residents now urge President Ruto to follow through on his pledge made at the Mashujaa Day celebrations to resettle all squatter households.
“We want the president to fulfill his promise, just as he did during the celebrations,” Juma Amri, another resident, lamented.
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‘He told us that he was a leader of the people and that he would resolve the issue of squatters here in Kwale. Where is he now?”
During the Mashujaa Day celebrations in Kwale, President Ruto announced that the government will buy expanses of property from so-called absentee landlords in the six Coast counties to settle squatters.
This was one of Ruto’s key campaign promises, especially in the Coast region, and it has yet to be realized.
“The government has set aside Ksh1.5 billion to buy land from absentee landlords for the settlement of squatters in the Coast region,” the president stated at the time.
‘Where Is He?’ – Coast Residents Ask Ruto On Land Promises Made 6 Months Ago
