Delmonte Kenya Land: Kiambu, Murang’a Politicians Should Keep Off
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 4:52 am
“Workers at Delmonte Kenya say that many of them will lose jobs if the company cedes part of its land to the Murang’a county government. The workers, in a letter to the county government, ask the devolved unit to stop demanding land from the company.
Delmonte employs thousands of people, most of them from Murang’a.” the-star.co.ke/counties/central/2019-09-17-workers-tell-wa-iria-to-stop-demanding-delmonte-land/
I support the workers 100%.
Kenya has too few large farms, and these few large farms MUST BE PROTECTED from subdivisions. Doing otherwise would lead to an economic disaster, in the long term. There are many large farms in Kenya, whose leases are near expiry. These leases should be extended immediately.
Apart from creating jobs, these large farms are very important in terms of boosting the economy, and ensuring food security (depending on what they grow).
Delmonte farm occupies parts of Murang’a and Kiambu counties. I understand that Murang’a County government needs the farm to build some amenities. They should acquire Makuyu Golf Course for that purpose.
Kiambu County government should acquire Thika (Golf) Sports Club if they also need to build some projects and don’t have the land. In Kenya, golf is played by the rich. Therefore, if a golf club is converted to some other purpose, only the rich would complain. But large farms must be left alone.
Any County government that has been eying some large farm, arguing that the County government needs to use it for its people (or whatever argument they use), should now focus on the golf courses in the county, and leave the farms and farm workers alone.
Delmonte employs thousands of people, most of them from Murang’a.” the-star.co.ke/counties/central/2019-09-17-workers-tell-wa-iria-to-stop-demanding-delmonte-land/
I support the workers 100%.
Kenya has too few large farms, and these few large farms MUST BE PROTECTED from subdivisions. Doing otherwise would lead to an economic disaster, in the long term. There are many large farms in Kenya, whose leases are near expiry. These leases should be extended immediately.
Apart from creating jobs, these large farms are very important in terms of boosting the economy, and ensuring food security (depending on what they grow).
Delmonte farm occupies parts of Murang’a and Kiambu counties. I understand that Murang’a County government needs the farm to build some amenities. They should acquire Makuyu Golf Course for that purpose.
Kiambu County government should acquire Thika (Golf) Sports Club if they also need to build some projects and don’t have the land. In Kenya, golf is played by the rich. Therefore, if a golf club is converted to some other purpose, only the rich would complain. But large farms must be left alone.
Any County government that has been eying some large farm, arguing that the County government needs to use it for its people (or whatever argument they use), should now focus on the golf courses in the county, and leave the farms and farm workers alone.
NB: When you see Kenyan politicians demanding that a “foreigner” or “foreign company” cede some land to “settle the homeless”, or to build schools, or some other noble project, it is certain that the real motivation is that they want to grab some part of that land for themselves (mostly through relatives).Kenya should enact a law stating that any land over 100 acres CANNOT be subdivided without authority from National Land Commission…If, however, politicians in a certain county feel that a certain “foreign” land owner should let a local own the farm, all they have to do is invite all tycoons from that county to a meeting, and request one of them to buy the farm.
If none of the tycoons wants to buy the farm, then the politicians should consider themselves stupid.
If however, one tycoon agrees to buy the farm owned by the “foreigner”, but cannot afford the asking price, the politicians can organise a harambee for local people to top up the remaining amount.
If local people refuse to participate in that harambee, then the politicians should consider themselves to be both stupid and myopic.
https://kenyaiforum.co.ke/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12002