Land injustices historical, far from inciting — Kingi

Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi remains unapologetic over his remarks about land injustices at the Coast amid criminal charges threat by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission

Kingi was summoned by NCIC bosses over remarks he made during this year’s Madaraka Day celebrations. 

However, a confident governor said his remarks were far from incitement and vowed to continue talking about land-related injustices at the Coast. 

Kingi appeared before the Commission alongside his lawyer James Orengo and was accompanied by three Coast MPs Aisha Jumwa (Malindi), Owen Baya (Kilifi North) and Michael Kingi (Magarini). 

Speaking after his grilling on Tuesday, Kingi explained that people need to be told how historical injustices came about if a permanent solution to land problems is to be found.

“You will find all what I talked about in history books. For us to move forward, we must highlight this history. On that day, I just gave a history of why some people do not have land at the coast,” he explained.

The Coast region has suffered the worst land-related injustices before and after Independence with the Mijikenda, Taita and Pokomo communities being among the most affected. 

A report of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission in 2013 said successive governments did little to solve the problem. 

It said injustices were in form of illegal alienation of public and trust land and preferential treatment of specific ethnic groups in settlement schemes at the expense of the landless. 

It added that other forms of injustices were forceful settlement of members of a community outside their homelands, forceful evictions and land grabbing by government officials. 

During the meeting with NCIC commissioners, Kingi said the injustices are “very painful and ugly” but that did not mean leaders should not talk about them. 

“Even if I do not tell them, people will read about it in books. If you don't want these issues to be discussed, let's burn all history books then,” he stated.

He added, “Solutions to land problems can only be found if people are told where they are coming from before they can be told where they are supposed to be going.”

Orengo said the governor’s speech on June 1 was based on historical records.

“Basically, it was an analysis of history. It was about the issue of absentee landlords which has never been resolved and the many landless people in the region. There is nothing wrong with what he did,” he said. 

History books say the Arab and British invasion paved the way for historical land injustices in Kenya. 

Arabs invaded the Coastal Strip in the early 1800s. They took part heavily in the slave trade, especially the Sultan of Zanzibar. Their activities led to mass evictions of the indigenous coastal communities from their land. 

Communities fled their land on the beach to escape the Arab traders who would capture and sell them as slaves. The Arabs later occupied this land and obtained a certificate of ownership from the Sultan. 

British colonialists only made matters worse. They came up with several laws and concessions to alienate the coastal and mainland communities further from their land. 

These laws and ordinances led to the eviction of communities to facilitate the construction of the Kenya-Uganda Railway. They also facilitated the leasing of the 20 per cent medium to high potential land to European settlers and multinational corporations.

After Independence, senior government officials grabbed land from communities in prime areas.

Jumwa said the government should not intimidate or attempt to gag leaders from the region who want to speak about these injustices.

“History is there to teach us and we must learn from it. The governor has even met the President over it but when he speaks about it, it becomes incitement,” she said.

The MP said the government should instead listen to them when that talk about concerning land-related injustices.

“We will not shut up. We will speak about it because we are not saying anybody should leave,” she added.

Baya said the NCIC should consider looking into these injustices and see how it can make recommendations to concerned authorities.

“There is a problem. We need to talk about the problem and find out how it can be resolved,” he said. 

The Kilifi North MP cautioned NCIC against taking any action against the government saying it would cause more problems. 

“The governor was awarded recently. He was celebrated as a champion of integrity and cohesion and he has not departed from that position,” Baya added. 

Magarini MP Kingi said Kenyans must go back to history to understand land-related problems. 

The governor maintained that what he talked about on Madaraka Day is known by all. “Even this commission knows what I talked about. As leaders, we must highlight where the problems started." 

“Land problems did not start yesterday and what happened many years ago will be told many years ahead. The current and future generations will know about it.” 

Edited by R.Wamochie