Kingi announces next course of action on land owned by absentee landlords
By Lutta Njomo, December 14, 2025Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has announced the next course of action regarding some of the land on Kenya’s coast owned by absentee landlords.
Speaking at the funeral of MP Denar Hamisi on Saturday, December 13, 2025, who passed away on December 6, 2025, following a road accident in Karen, Nairobi, Kingi disclosed that he had submitted a list of some of the land owned by absentee landlords to President William Ruto.
According to Kingi, the head of state will help decide which of those pieces of land would be purchased to resettle squatters along Kenya’s coast.
Kingi added that Ruto would decide during his next tour of the region.
“Orodha ya mashamba ya wamiliki wasio wakaaji (absentee landlords) imefikishwa kwa Rais, na katika ziara yake ijayo Pwani, Rais William Ruto ataeleza ni mashamba gani yatapewa kipaumbele kununuliwa ili wakazi wa Pwani waanze kumiliki ardhi,” Kingi stated.
The assignment
In February 2025, Ruto announced he would buy land from absentee landlords and re-settle squatters at the Coast. While making the pronouncement, the head of state tasked Kingi and Cabinet Secretaries Alice Wahome (Lands), Hassan Joho (Mining) and Salim Mvurya (Sports) with identifying and vetting genuine absentee landlords for compensation.
“Hao viongozi watatu sasa nataka kuwapa kibarua. Tulikubaliana na hawa watu wa Pwani ya kwamba mambo yao ya ardhi tutatatua. Wale walisema wakona land question, tukawaambia tukona land answer. Sasa mwaka huu, nimeweka Ksh1 billion kuanza kutatua mambo ya absentee landlords katika Pwani hii (Now I want to give three leaders an assignment. We made an agreement with the coastal people that we are going to solve the land issue. Now this year we have set aside Ksh1 billion to sought out the issue of absentee landlords),” Ruto stated then.
Speaking during the funeral service of Kingi’s father, Mzee Kingi Mwaruwa Mkweha, at Kamale in Magarini Constituency, Kilifi County, Ruto said: “We have made progress, and we now have money to pay off these absentee landlords.”
He maintained that the decision was aimed at resolving the historical land issues that have plagued the region for centuries, leaving thousands without vital ownership documents.
Further, he assured squatters in the county that the government was in the process of resolving ownership disputes over African Development Corporation (ADC) land in Magarini, and assured them that they would be issued with title deeds later in the year.
“It will not be completed in one or two years, but we will deliver on our promise to largely sort out the squatter problem at the Coast,” the president explained.