KOMBE: Resettling squatters by politicians is a far fetched dream

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A squatter of the Waitiki land protests at the Likoni social hall in the past PHOTO:COURTESY

Kenyan politicians have a habit of using the land question in the country during general elections to lure voters a statement that pains me so much.

Politicians will formulate any tactical means by moving to the grassroots level with an intention of luring that voter for the single vote then disappear for next five years span only to re-appear in the fifth year during general elections.

What the politicians forget is that the land question in Kenya has been a controversial issue since time immemorial and infact to me it makes no sense for these politicians to promise  over over half of the Kenyan population settlement who have been leaving as squatters throughout their lives.

I believe it is the role of the government to come up with proper legislation to resettle the landless and not my periodical politician who only appears once after a span of five years.

Here is a simple study I have conducted to inform the Kenyan politician on who is to perform the role of giving settlement to the landless.

According to the 2012 draft bill a number of national policies  have been put forward to address the issue of forced evictions which include the National Land Policy Sessional Paper No 3 of 2009 and the National Housing Policy.

Both the National Land Policy and the Housing Policy emphasize the need to address the systematic causes of evictions and thereby propose appropriate preventive measures.

According to Global Homeless Statistics done by the United Nations in 2005 an estimated 100 million people were homeless worldwide while a study by UN Habitat conducted in 2015 showed that as many as 1.6 billion people lacked adequate housing.

It is therefore unwise for politicians to come out with baskets of promises in the name of resettling squatters.

I believe Kenyans are so much informed and will only cast in leaders who will only deliver services to the over 40 million Kenyans.

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