NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 12 – Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has urged Kenyans to embrace burials in public cemeteries as a way of easing pressure on land and reducing disputes linked to succession.Speaking during the Jukwaa la Usalama forum in Kisii on Friday, Murkomen warned that traditional practices of burying loved ones on private land were contributing to land scarcity, conflicts, and even killings.“We want to encourage as many people as possible to embrace burials in public cemeteries that are designated,” Murkomen said.“That should be the future otherwise the pressure that is on land sometimes people are even unable to bury their loved ones and it creates pressure and fights and killings among citizens.”The CS linked the recent killings of elderly persons in the Gusii region to land disputes disguised as accusations of witchcraft.He termed the lynching of the elderly under the guise of witchcraft as an excuse to inherit the land.“There are many cases of murder in this region and reports of older people engaged in witchcraft are allegations that have no basis,” the CS said.“It is not about witchcraft, this is an excuse. The real truth is that younger people are eliminating their elders so that they can quickly inherit land.”He said the Ministry of Lands was looking at how land succession can be expedited.The Interior CS added that Ministry is equally exploring land consolidation to curb fragmentation.“The solution also lies in land consolidation. Land fragmentation has created pressure and if there is a county at risk of being slum, in 20 or 30 years from now, it’s this.”He called on the region to fully embrace the affordable housing project.“Heavily investing in affordable housing will ease the pressure. Our ministry is set to relocate the prisons from within the CBD to create space for the housing project and decongest the town and it will serve as a model for now and the future.”The CS also raised concern over the rising cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the larger Western Kenya region, noting that many perpetrators were close relatives of victims.He directed chiefs and local administrators to intensify public sensitisation and encourage communities to report cases of abuse.