Matiang'i gazettes Kisii State Lodge as a protected area

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has gazetted Kisii State Lodge as a protected area. 

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday said the newly gazetted establishment will allow him to visit Kisii County more often.

He spent Tuesday night at the establishment.

Kisii Governor James Ongwae had during the Mashujaa Day national celebrations asked the Head of State to ensure its gazettement.

“The area, place or premises described in the Schedule is declared to be a protected area for purposes of the Act and no person shall be in the specified areas without permission of the prescribed authority or the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Co-ordination of National Government,” read the gazette notice by Dr Matiang’i.

It was recently renovated as the county prepared to host Mashujaa Day celebrations.

But before the renovation, the government had to repossess part of the State House land that had been grabbed by some individuals. 

The facility now has a stone fence around it to keep off grabbers from future encroachment attempts and for security purposes.

The government knocked down illegal structures that had been erected on the grabbed land.

The land grabbers had hived off a huge junk of the parcel from the statehouse compound. 

Being a highly guarded state property, it is not clear how the grabbers had gained access to the compound.