Insecurity, drug abuse, and land issues dominate Kwale's Sikika Sasa Forum

Insecurity, drug abuse, and land featured among pertinent issues affecting Kwale County residents during KTN's talk show, Sikika Sasa.

Speaking at the show, which is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), locals said unemployment has resulted to drug abuse among the youth, a concern they pleaded with the government to resolve.

“The youth idle around in groups around town areas. Most of them now abuse drugs and that has become a huge problem to us parents,” said Mwanahawa Mwandano, a resident.

Kwale County Governor, Salim Mvurya responded by acknowledging that the county government is creating awareness against drug abuse and plans to rehabilitate the affected, are in progress.

“During the upcoming financial year, we will construct the first rehabilitation center in Kwale County to tackle the menace, in a bid to restore focus and hard work among the youth, he added.

At the show, the residents asked area leaders to restore peace in the county as insecurity cases have become rampant.

“Terrorism cases are reported frequently in Kwale since the county has few police officers compared to other counties.  We want most of our police officers to receive advanced KDF training to curb terrorism in the area,” said Ginora Kinyasi, a resident.

Kwale County Commissioner, Evans Achoki noted that embracing Nyumba kumi initiative would be a great way to curb insecurity.

Ownership of land has for a while been a thorn in the county’s flesh, a matter the residents want addressed.  They want title deeds issued as some of the residents are victims of land grabbing.

“We want the Land registry streamlined as we have not received our title deed for years now. Where do they want us to go? The issuing of titles should be fast tracked as we are getting impatient,” said Suleiman Salim, a resident.

“We have many uncollected title deeds. We have addressed this issue in public barazas and through the provincial administration but residents have not acted,” Kwale Lands Registry officer- Evans Mwaruwanga, told the Standard.

Leaders present at the forum vowed to ensure the title deed problem is solved and rightful owners acquire title deeds.