Sugar around the world →
Kenya: Residents Say Eviction is Unfair
Residents on land earmarked for growing sugarcane in Msambweni District have resisted a move to evict them.
The residents said they had lived on the land for years and it was unfair for the Government and the investor to evict them without a notice.
Workers of Kwale International Sugar Company, the investor who plans to build a sugar factory in the area, yesterday started clearing crops and plants on two farms.
Farmers in Ramisi, Msambweni District, salvage what they could after part their crops were uprooted by workers of an international sugar company, on Tuesday. The company plans to plant sugarcane on the land.
The land originally belonged to the Ramisi Sugar Factory before it collapsed.
"We are not against the planned cane growing project. But it is unfair for the Government and the investor to start wanton eviction without giving us notice," Mr Bakari Ali Kasirani, a resident, said.
Farms hands were yesterday busy harvesting cassava and oranges after workers from the sugar factory uprooted them.
Kasirani, also a former chairman of the Kwale County Council, said the land had been "secretly" sold to the investor by the Government after its lease to original owners of the now defunct Ramisi Sugar Factory ended in 2006.
He said he started developing his parcel of land in 1984, and had invested Sh5 million to plant coconut trees and eucalyptus.
"It is heartless for the Government to evect us now to pave way for the new sugar factory. We should not be treated like squatters in our own land," he said.
A former Msambweni MP who also served as an Assistant minister, Ms Marere Wamwachai, urged Lands minister, Mr James Orengo, and his counterpart in the Agriculture ministry, Mr William Ruto, to intervene and ensure fairness in the process.
"The two ministers should come to our rescue. This issue should be handled with alot of care since land is a very sensitive matter," she said.
She said President Kibaki had during the 2008 Mombasa International Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) show announced the revival of the sugar factory.
"The President said his Government had signed an agreement with the investor, who was to develop a large scale farm covering 15,000 acres of land that was to be excised from the original Ramisi farm," she said.