Africans from all walks of life in the African Continent have reasons to rejoice over President Uhuru Kenyatta’s announcement about entry Visas and business endeavors in Kenya. This is an announcement which will go into the Kenya history books. President Uhuru Kenyatta should be commended and applauded by all Kenyans and by all those in the Nations which border Kenya.
There is no doubt President Uhuru Kenyatta was and is still very sincere with this announcement. But despite this wise and creative announcement which is the best goal for unity, there is a lot of work that is required to be done, in terms of amending the laws in Kenya related to willing seller willing buyer contracts. There is a lot of corruption on land matters in Kenya. Very many pieces of land in Kenya have more than two title deeds and therefore have more than two owners at war with one another over that piece of land. These land scams have resulted to very many wrangles and loses of land to genuine buyers. Very little has been done to correct this vice despite numerous cries and despite numerous complaints to the Government.
Other than the multiplication of Title deeds in Kenya, there is the other most heinous menace of attacks, killing and evictions of genuine buyers of land. It is still fresh in the memories of most Kenyans when in 1992, more than 800 Kenyans were killed in the Rift Valley Province, and many others were evicted from their farms, and finally they lost their farms they had bought with their own money. A few years ago in 2008, more than 1,300 Kenyans were killed in the Rift Valley province and more than half a million others were evicted from their farms which they had bought with their own money. And they also lost their farms.
This is why it is very important for President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto and the entire Uhuru Administration, to sit down and work out a formula which will prevent fellow Africans from the East African countries, from falling victims of the land scams in Kenya and from similar attacks, killings and evictions any time in future after they buy land in Kenya, as has been happening to many Kenyans when they buy land which is also owned by several others, and as had happened to innocent Kenyans who bought land and were latter attacked and evicted from those lands they bought.
Therefore, before this nobble notion of President Uhuru Kenyatta on the purchase of land by our neighbors is implemented, everything should be done to prevent the foreseeable damage that would result from such land scams and from such attacks and evictions to Africans from our neighboring countries who will buy land in Kenya following this wonderful award from President Uhuru Kenyatta, because such actions would not only dent the image of Kenya before the East African Nations but also to the entire world.
By Isaac Newton Kinity.
