Kilifi leaders push for payment of squatters to pave way for Malindi airport expansion

Malindi International Airport. [File Courtesy]

Leaders in Kilifi County are pushing for the payment of squatters and landowners to pave the way for the expansion of the Malindi International Airport.

They also want the government to fulfil the pledge of opening the Ronald Ngala Utalii College in September, as announced by Tourism Principal Secretary (PS) Julius Bitok.

Led by Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo and Malindi MP Amina Mnyazi, the leaders said that the delayed expansion of the airport to accommodate large aircraft and the delayed operationalisation of the Ronald Ngala Utalii College were hurting the tourism trade in the region.

“We want to be assured that whatever the government has announced will be a reality because we have waited for too long for the operationalisation of the tourism college, and by the PS for tourism saying that the first intake will be in September, let it be so,” he said.

He added that the Malindi Airport land owners and squatters had the right to be paid before being relocated and that the government should resolve the matter quickly to enable investors to expand the runway.

“Those land owners and squatters should be paid quickly so that we can expand the airport to international standards,” he said.

The affected residents are demanding Sh2.5 billion as compensation after they were evicted in the first phase and the land fenced. The matter has been before courts of law and the Land Acquisition Tribunal (LAT) that hears appeals from the National Land Commission (NLC).

In 2015, 230 residents were compensated Sh423 million for the structures on the land by KAA and were to be paid another Sh. 2.5 billion for the land acquisition after being evicted, but the process has reportedly been delayed for over 15 years.

Mnyazi said that tourism was hurting in Malindi and the North Coast region as a result of delayed expansion.

Maureen Awuor, the General Manager of Ocean Beach Resort and Spa in Malindi, who is also the Chairperson of the Kenya Hotelkeepers and Caterers Association North Coast Region, said in Malindi and Mambrui there are new tourism gems, including the Kenyan Dubai, which is becoming a major tourism attraction.

The KTB Chief Executive Officer (CEO), June Chepkemei, said that currently Kenya has a record 8 million tourists, including 5.2 million domestic tourists and 2.7 million foreign tourists.

“So, we welcome this engagement; we will continue to engage with the private sector as a government so that we have a more collaborative and better coordination of tourism between the government, the private sector, academia and the non-state actors,” she said.