Absentee Land Owners Put On Notice

Posted to the web 24 July 2008 Nairobi Absentee owners of public land have been put on notice - utilise the resource or risk having it revert to Government ownership. Lands minister James Orengo on Wednesday said the game was up for beneficiaries of public land who held it for private profiteering or for bank guarantees. Responding to MPs during debate on the Sh2.2 billion 2008/2009 budget for his ministry, Mr Orengo said it was not right for a few people to hold idle land. Sitting on it "We are not going to allocate land to people who are not able to use it. If you are given public land and you are merely sitting on it, you are going to pay for it." Mr Orengo said it was time hefty charges were levied on idle land to encourage production of food. But the final solution for the land ownership problem in Kenya was in... [read full story]