President William Ruto will issue nearly 200,000 title deeds across the Coast and launch construction of a new refinery in Lamu as he begins a development tour of the region on Saturday, State House said on Friday.
The tour will cover Taita-Taveta, Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa, Tana River and Lamu counties. According to the statement, it will give the President a chance to assess government projects and engage residents and local leaders on development priorities.
“The issuance of the title deeds is part of the Government’s plan to distribute 500,000 land ownership documents as it seeks to address longstanding squatter and other land-related challenges that have affected communities in the Coast region for decades,” State House said.
Ruto will start in Taita-Taveta on Saturday, where 31,318 titles are to be issued to residents of Mwatate and Voi. He will then travel to Kwale on Monday to issue 94,175 titles in Lunga Lunga, Msambweni and Kinango. In Kilifi, 36,826 titles are scheduled for Kaloleni, Rabai, Ganze, Kilifi South and Malindi. Mombasa is to receive 4,360 titles, with a further 22,770 to be distributed in Lamu and Tana River.
The statement said the documents will give beneficiaries formal ownership and enable them to put their land to greater economic use after years of waiting.
During the working tour, the President is also expected to commission completed projects, inspect ongoing works and launch new ones in the six counties.
Lamu refinery
“Importantly, the President will break ground for the $16 billion (KSh2 trillion) East Africa Refinery in Lamu, a project to be jointly undertaken by the Kenyan Government and Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote,” the statement said.
The plant is expected to process crude from Lokichar in Turkana and supply refined petroleum products across East and Central Africa. State House said it would enhance Kenya’s energy security and create more than 500,000 jobs.
Speaking earlier this week at the UN General Assembly in New York, Ruto said Kenya was ready to proceed. “We are ready to break ground on the East Africa refinery in Lamu,” he said, adding that the project would enhance regional energy security, deepen local value addition, create jobs and advance industrialisation. He separately put the plant’s capacity at about 700,000 barrels a day.
The President was in Lagos on Friday to tour Dangote’s Nigerian refinery before returning for the Coast programme.
