- Mghanga said reforms in the land administration and management system in the country should be prioritised.
- He joins other five candidates who have declared interest for the senatorial seat.
Outgoing Taita Taveta Lands executive Mwandawiro Mghanga has promised to help strengthen devolution and fight historical injustices if elected.
The former Wundanyi legislator and an activist has declared interest for the senatorial seat. Mghanga is the chairman of the Communist Party of Kenya.
He said the region has been sidelined due to lack of good representation by leaders elected into office
The former executive spoke on Monday at Wundanyi during his farewell party.
Mghanga, a former political detainee, resigned last week after a four-year stint in Governor Granton Samboja’s administration, throwing his hat into the ring of the already crowded senatorial race.
“Devolution in Kenya needs to be strengthened to help cushion the coastal people against historical injustices. We shall fight that they be given equal opportunities as the rest of the country,” he said.
Mghanga said reforms in the land administration and management system in the country should be prioritised.
The reforms, he said, will give counties more powers on management of land matters as the current system is prone to manipulation by land grabbers and speculators.
"The county government needs to channel more financial resources to the Lands department to solve issues of title deeds and urban plans in our major towns and to support the growth of the mining sector,” he added.
Mghanga has been fighting to resolve a dispute over administrative boundaries between Taita Taveta and Makueni counties.
He shall face-off with the incumbent Senator Jones Mwaruma and other four candidates who are eying the legislative seat.
They include Nathaniel Noti, John Righa, Saleka Njumwa and former Wundanyi MP Thomas Mwadeghu.
The firebrand politician went into history books on February 10, 1985, when he inspected a guard of honor mounted by University of Nairobi students.
It is this daring act that saw him and other organisers of the ill-fated meeting arrested by General Service Unit officers and detained at Buru Buru police station where he was tortured.
He was also jailed for one year for convening and attending an illegal meeting. This time, he was pursuing a master's degree at the University of Nairobi.
The fearless, brave and courageous student leader had been marked by authorities for leading political awareness and activism in the campus. He was expelled in 1985.
When the Kanu regime collapsed in 2002, he successfully vied for the Wundanyi parliamentary seat where he served between 2002 – 2007.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)