Former Attorney General Justin Muturi has opposed reported plans to subdivide and convert land within the Galana Kulalu agricultural project in Tana River County into real-estate developments.
Speaking in Hola, Muturi said the project is a strategic national asset that must be protected from private interests.
“We will not allow a national agricultural dream to be quietly turned into a real-estate bonanza for a connected few in Nairobi,” he said
The former Cabinet Secretary warned against allowing the 301,330 acres to be turned into private estates, arguing that the move would undermine the original vision of the Galana Kulalu irrigation project.
Muturi said the one-million-acre project was envisioned to transform Kenya’s agricultural economy, strengthen food security and generate foreign-exchange earnings through intensive commercial farming.
He proposed the adoption of Egypt-style intensive irrigated agriculture, supported by modern irrigation systems, large-scale commercial farming, agro-processing, storage and export infrastructure.
“We will not waste prime irrigated land planting low-value crops for subsistence,” he warned
Muturi said the project should prioritise high-value commercial crops rather than low-value subsistence farming.
He argued that such an approach would create employment, boost exports, generate foreign exchange and improve the economic fortunes of Tana River residents.
He insisted that Galana Kulalu must remain dedicated to agriculture and warned that its conversion into a real-estate venture would undermine a major national development project.
