Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has ordered all Kenyans living in government forest land to leave immediately.
Speaking on Friday, May 10 during the national tree planting drive in Marsabit County, the Interior CS said that many people have encroached on government land.
CS Kindiki noted that the government would reclaim and protect all the land that has been encroached on by some Kenyans.
“There are some people who have encroached on government forests. I want to make it clear that all those who have encroached on government forest land, they must leave immediately. We are going to reclaim all our forest reserves as we increase the size of our forests and therefore any person who is living in the government forest must start leaving,” Kindiki directed.
The Interior CS mentioned that some people have managed to get illegal title deeds of the lands in the forests.
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He added that the government will not acknowledge the title deeds saying they were issued fraudulently.
“Some of them we are told managed to get illegal title deeds and we are not going to respect any title deed that has been issued against the law,” Kindiki stated.
At the same time, the Interior CS said the government will continue evacuating all Kenyans living in riparian land.
Kindiki pointed out that the move is aimed at protecting them and other Kenyans from any calamity that may result.
“According to the laws of our country, you cannot build or cultivate within thirty meters of a riverbank but many people have disregarded our planning laws and have encroached on the riparian reserves, and the floods today are becoming more dangerous,” Kindiki added.