Residents of Hola in Tana River county have supported a petition by Galole MP Said Hirbae for degazzetment of 2,000 acres of Hola Irrigation Scheme.
They want part of that land subdivided and allocated to them.
The residents and Senator Juma Wario, Woman Rep Rehema Hassan and Garsen MP Ali Wario Hashaka told the parliamentary committee on Environment that the idea of degazettment was timely because residents want to settle and get title deeds.
Hirbae’s petition, which was tabled in Parliament last month, came after Water and Irrigation PS Joseph Irungu in July warned that those who were encroaching on the irrigation scheme shall be evicted and buildings demolished.
The National Irrigation Authority owns 25,000 acres in Bura irrigation scheme and 16,000 acres within the Tana irrigation schemes which have not been utilised fully due to the high cost of water.
Currently, the authorities are developing a Sh7.5 billion gravity system to irrigate more land compared to the diesel system that is expensive.
A large section of Hola town is reportedly owned by NIA and there are claims that some of the land was grabbed by influential individuals and buildings erected.
Locals, however, say the NIA has failed to utilise the land allocated for irrigation and part of it should be degazetted and allocated to them.
Senator Wario said he fully supported the petition, being one of those who lives within the scheme.
Wario said the petition should include six villages that are within the scheme, which is home to some of the victims of the Mau Mau war of Independence.
“I want in the petition to have villages where there will be no irrigation for planting cotton or maize but settlement schemes which shall be recognised because irrigation without human beings cannot be irrigation,” he said.
Garsen MP Hashaka said Hola was the county headquarters but even the county commissioner was a squatter because the land belongs to NIA.
“We want the land to be degazetted, and the village the senator mentioned up to Maendeleo is subdivided so that people living in Reibai, Matanya and Mandeleo live like other Kenyans,” he said
Tana River chief officer for lands Francis Malibe said the county has a challenge in planning and land use because the land belongs to NIA but people have encroached on it.
“With time as you have observed since the land has been encroached, we cannot control the developments being initiated, we can not plan for the town and set up roads,” he said.
Malibe said for the sake of the growth of the town, it would be wise to degazette the 2,000 acres.
Kuri Duri, a resident of Hola, said they were happy with their MP for taking up their cry of many years.
“It’s a problem our town cannot grow because if you walk less than one kilometer you are within the NIA,” he said.
He said it is the will of the people that 2,000 acres of NIA land be degazetted and allocated to locals.
Komora Hassan Dhadho, another resident, said people are congested in areas such as Laza while there is ample land which can be allocated to them.
Currently, he said some of the investments such as Tana Palace have been marked for demolition by NIA because the land belongs to the authority.
Jeremiah Barisa said as a voter he is happy to see the area leadership coming up with a petition aimed at resolving problems facing the people.
He said during floods villages are swept away but since the land belongs to NIA it is high time the land is degazetted and people can get a proper place that will not be affected by floods.
The National Assembly Committee on Environment and Natural Resources chairman Kareke Mbiuki who was accompanied by members assured the residents that they would have a sitting in Nairobi to deliberate on the petition and come up with a resolution.
Edited by Henry Makori