Spent some time in Mombasa last week. Other than the unusually cold weather, one cannot fail to notice the changing skylines of Majengo and Membe tyari areas. These areas were formerly marked by old mud walled houses despite their proximity to the CBD. But that will soon be a thing of the past, thanksto the infamous somali pirates.
Awash with dollars, the pirates have been snapping up the properties and quickly putting up marble finished storey houses in their place. One year ago, a 1/8 of an acre plot in these places was going for Kshs. 2,000,000 (us$ 20,000). Now the pirates are willing to pay as much as Kshs. 8,000,000 (us$ 100,000) with an additional plot away from the island thrown in. Which land owner would refuse such an offer.
Even more interesting, the pirates all have kenyan Identity Cards,making the transfer process much easier. These developments add a further twist to the pirates story; are they harmful or beneficial to kenya? Ask the residents of majengo!
