Lobbies in Siaya County are asking concerned state agencies to move in and investigate three land registries in the region following complaints of graft in the public offices.
The groups have also petitioned Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney to urgently act on errant officers who they claim are part of a cartel involved in various land injustices in the county.
Speaking during the celebrations to mark the World Anti-Corruption Day on Sunday, the Community Initiative Action Group Kenya (CIAGK) and Transparency International (TI) singled out Bondo, Siaya and Ukwala land registries as the main registries affected.
In the petition, the groups want immediate suspension, investigation and possible prosecution of the officers who have been fuelling corruption in the Lands ministry in the county.
CIAGK also want the Lands CS deal with runaway corruption, land boards, staffing, rogue chiefs and surveyors.
While some members of the public have chosen to seek redress in the courts of law, a majority of the affected individuals are poor and cannot afford the court process.
Some of the reported cases include illegal and fraudulent acquisition of titles, double registration, lost titles, unlawful transfers and corruption due to collusion or actual perpetration by land officers and the local administration in the registries.
Women, who are the main agents of production in the region’s largely small scale agriculture, suffer discrimination on matters touching on access and rights on land and land-based resources according to CIAGK and TI.
[Article source: Daily Nation, by Rushdie Ouda]
