Kisumu jua kali artisans lock horns with county over land

The Kisumu County government of has locked horns with jua kali artisans over the ownership of a 23-acre parcel of land.

While the county administration intends to put up a multi-million market complex, the jua kali artisans on the other hand are laying claim to eight acres within the same piece of land and allege that the county has encroached on it.

The county government says the land was donated to them by Kenya Railways to resettle traders who were displaced by the expansion of the Kisumu port.

But the jua kali traders claim they have a title deed for the land which they say was given to them through a presidential decree.

City Manager Doris Ombara indicated that they have already received Sh350 million funding from the national government through the State Department for Urban Development under the Slum Upgrading Project.

Mrs Ombara, while indicating that they have already started erecting a chain-link fence, said President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to preside over the ground breaking ceremony of the market during the official launch of the rehabilitated Sh3 billion Kisumu port.

But Kisumu Center Jua Kali Artisans Association Treasurer David Odanga claimed the county and the national governments have not been engaging them, only to surprise them with what they termed “ambush” into their land.

He maintained that the 37,000 members will not be moving out, noting that they legally own and have a title for the land.

He indicated that they acquired the land following several years of policy formulation that culminated in the issuance of allotment letters in 1994 and a lease in the same year.

Mr Odanga said they can only sit and engage the two levels of government on how to develop their proposal if it does not involve evicting them from the area and replacing them with other small businesses.