Kisumu city manager Abala Wanga has raised concerns over an increase in grabbing of public lands.
Wanga said 21 pieces of land, including the land hosting the IEBC office, have been grabbed.
The grabbed land includes playgrounds, parks and social amenities.
He urged the National Land Commission to repossess all grabbed land.
Wanga spoke during the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Sh3.5 billion affordable housing units at Makasembo estate presided over by Azimio presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga and Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong’o.
Present at the event were Nyanza regional commissioner Magu Mutindika and Kisumu county commissioner Josephine Ouko.
Wanga said some of the grabbers were present at the ceremony.
He urged Raila and Nyong’o to help in repossessing the grabbed lands to facilitate further developments.
Mutindika said the land commission should ensure the grabbed lands are returned to the county and national government.
“The commission should repossess all the grabbed land. It is their mandate,” he said.
“The government will not tolerate land grabbers. They are denying citizens from benefiting from the government services.”
Mutindika said it is the mandate of the NLC to ensure all the grabbed public lands within Kisumu are repossessed.
“Land grabbing is denying the people of Kisumu their rights,” he said.
Mutindika lauded the housing project saying it was in line with the Big Four agenda and will benefit more than 1,800 households.
The project will see the estate upgraded into 1,870 one, two and three-bedroom units with 1,754 parking slots.
The construction work on the 11.6 acres is expected to take two years to complete after the county government and Lapfund signed a deal for the project last year.
It will consist of one, two and three bedrooms. Under low cost, there will be 180 one-bedroom units, 100 two-bedroom units and 290 three-bedroom units, with 544 parking lots.
In the medium cost, there will be 600 two-bedroom units and 700 three-bedroom units, with 1,210 parking lots.
The project will consist of pre-schools, borehole, ample parking, solar power, high-speed lifts and landscaped gardens as well as communal play areas.
A one-bedroom unit will cost about Sh1.8 million, with two and three-bedroom units going for Sh2.7 million and over Sh3.5 million respectively for low-income earners.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
