Interior and National Administration CS Kipchumba Murkomen has linked the killing of elderly persons in the Gusii region to land disputes around succession.
The CS termed the lynching of the elderly under the guise of witchcraft as an excuse to inherit the land.
“There are many cases of murder in this region and reports of older people engaged in witchcraft are allegations that have no basis. It is not about witchcraft, this is an excuse. The real truth is that younger people are eliminating their elders so that they can quickly inherit land,”disclosed the CS.
He said the Ministry of Lands was looking at how land succession can be expedited.
“The solution also lies in land consolidation. Land fragmentation has created pressure and if there is a county at risk of being slum, in 20 or 30 years from now, it’s this.”
He called on the region to fully embrace the affordable housing project.
“Heavily investing in affordable housing will ease the pressure. Our ministry is set to relocate the prisons from within the CBD to create space for the housing project and decongest the town and it will serve as a model for now and the future.”
He also urged Kenyans to embrace burial in public cemeteries to ease land pressure.
The CS said the rise in cases of defilement and other Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the larger Western Kenya was alarming and directed chiefs to sensitise locals to speak out as most of the perpetrators are family members.
He also spoke to the upcoming by-elections and the intensified war on drugs and substance abuse.
