Garowe Mayor Vows to Get Tough With Land-grabbers

Garowe (PP News Desk) — Garowe, the adminstrative capital of Puntland State of Somalia, grapples with unresolved land disputes that periodically turn into violent confrontations. The Mayor of Garowe, Ahmed Saeed Aw Musse, today sent a stern warning to land-grabbers and land tax evaders.

Aw Musse unveiled a municipality plan to gradually figure out land that was illegally acquired in Garowe.

Ahmed Saeed Aw Musse, the Mayor of Garowe, aims to nip land disputes in the bud.

“The local government will start checking property deeds of the plots of land in the area we have decided to visit. Any person who owns a plot of land in the designated area should register his or her land with the municipal office so that planning for roads in the area can ensue. Owners will cede a part of their land to the general public. Any person who fails to register their plot of land or refuses to pay land tax will lose ownership rights. Failure to follow the municipal instruction will lead to increased land tax liabilities and increased general public entitlement for more land to a point the owner could lose the plot of land altogether ” said the Mayor of Garowe.

Land registered with Garowe Municipality is GPS-protected. This system has been used to settle land disputes resulted by land encroachment.

A plot of land in Garowe is worth twice as much as a plot of land with a similar size in most regions of Puntland, a situation that fuels land disputes and land-grabbing. The Garowe Municipality committee tasked with registering land and collecting land tax will work for one month, a timeframe the Mayor views as enough to formally register the land with Garowe Municipality.

© Puntland Post, 2021