Kilifi County demolishes property on grabbed land to build headquarters
By Antynet Ford
The County government of Kilifi has destroyed properties worth millions in the Mabirikani area built on government land.
Enforcement officers from the county together with security personnel raided the Kilifi social services land that was allegedly grabbed by former government officials.
Reports indicate that the grabbers were given notice but did not honor them leaving tenants to suffer as they were forced to remove household items last minute.
The demolition kicked off around 5 am as the county used a grader to bring down the buildings.
One of the buildings allegedly belonged to a former Kilifi senior social services officer while another one belonged to a former Kilifi County physical planner.
Among the properties destroyed include Sh 3 million property belonging to a former social service officer for Kilifi and another government official who works in the planning department.
The former social services officer, who was present wailed uncontrollably following the shock claiming she took a loan of Ksh. 3 million to build the rental houses and her retirement home.
Affected tenants had reportedly been assured by their landlords and landlady that there would be no demolition.
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A section of residents supported the demolition saying the land deserved to be taken back.
Reports indicate that the land is earmarked for the development of the county headquarters.
Investigations revealed that those who built in properties were senior government officials who instead of protecting public property grabbed it for their benefit.
“We support what the government has done in demolishing the property which belongs to the government these are land that were owned by the government and these officials grabbed the land.” A resident stated.
“We are surprised that some people were given notice but did not move out until today when the grader came when they were crying for help please we should respect government officials.” He added.
The county government of Kilifi is expected to construct the county headquarters on the said land to avoid paying rent.
In an Interview, Kilifi governor Gideon Mungaro said the demolition was timely because they issued several notices a long time ago but the occupants failed to honor them.
He said the land belonged to the social services department and had been set aside for the constriction of county headquarters but the land occupants failed to respect the orders to leave.
Mung’aro said the social service land was seven acres but was grabbed and now only 4 acres remaining.
He said those who grabbed the land were not strangers but former government officials who allocated themselves land they knew belonged to the government.
“We are going to demolish everything there because we cannot allow people to grab government land.” He said.
The governor said anyone who built on government land should vacate as they would be brought down.
He added that the tendering for the construction of the county headquarters which will cost Sh. 500 million shall begin tomorrow and work is set to begin next week.
