Kenya’s land reform to quell tribalism and poverty developed after British rule

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has issued more than 2,000 land title deeds to residents in Kilifi County as a solution to tribalism and poverty.

CAPE TOWN, July 23 (ANA) – Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta issued more than 2,000 land title deeds on Thursday as a solution to tribalism and poverty.

Kenyatta issued a total of 2,169 land title deeds to residents of Rabia in Kenya’s Kilifi County, found just outside the country’s coastal city of Mombasa, State House Kenya reported.

The land title deeds issued are worth more than US$38 million (or 4.2 billion Kenyan shillings).

The ceremony was conducted at Kasidi Primary School in Kilifi County.

The president emphasised how these land title deeds were the source to end poverty and tribalism in the coastal region, where land has been at the heart of both these issues in Kilifi County.

“For an individual to have a title deed, it means the end of poverty. It assures them of settlement. It means they won’t worry that they are squatters but rather they will know that the place they are living is their home and thus put up a permanent homestead,” Kenyatta said.

“The issue of land has been a source of discord, tribalism and chaos here at the coast region. That’s why when I took over the country’s leadership, I promised to bring a solution to the issue rather than continue discussing it,” he added.

The county’s governor, Amason Kingi, remarked that since Kenyatta became president in 2013, he has issued nearly double the number of title deeds compared to 50 years prior when Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963.

Kilifi County received 52,000 land title deeds between 1963 and 2012, while 100,000 title deeds were issued between 2013 and 2021.

To scratch the surface of tribalism and poverty in coastal Kenya, news organisation Quartz reported in 2017 how younger Kenyans were killing older relatives and accusing them of witchcraft.

Meanwhile, experts have claimed that “the violence is a way to preserve food resources for younger, more productive community members” due to prolonged drought which saw 19 million Kenyans in need of food relief.

In 2018, Kenya News Agency reported of Kilifi leaders calling for unity to end tribalism that had developed since the end of British rule, and at the start of Kenya’s independence.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher