The government moved in to quell tension between the local community and four private developers over the ownership of an 800-acre parcel of land at the Vipingo area in Kilifi County.
Reports indicated that a meeting was convened by Kilifi County Commissioner Josephat Biwott and comprised the community leaders and the four investors to settle the dispute regarding the ownership of the land.
The commissioner directed the status quo to remain until the conclusion of investigations to establish the land owner.
According to the private developers, over 500 youth had raided the land and erected a fence. The youth reportedly produced ancestral title deeds which they claimed were issued by the Ministry of Lands.
Mrima Wanyepe, community chairman, noted that they sought to have their ancestral land reverted to its rightful owners.
"Vipingo Sisal Estate lease expired and we applied to have our ancestral land reverted back, we obtained the title deed for 800 acres of the land from the Ministry of Lands which was supposed to divide it for us," he stated.
According to Wanyepe, the government was supposed to subdivide the parcel of land but kept postponing the exercise.
Commissioner Biwott also highlighted a Memorandum of Understanding that was reportedly signed by all the parties involved. He noted that they would scrutinise the document and settle the matter in 14 days.
"We will continue sitting down with the community members to resolve the issues they have. There are titles promised in 2001 that they are yet to get. There's also the issue of the MoU that underlined within six months they would be given the title deeds. We will find an amicable solution for this," Biwott added.
One of the community members wondered why the government would issue the title deeds and revoke them a few months later.
"The matter will be resolved and we have faith that justice will be served. It was of concern that we received title deeds from the same government which cancelled them later on."
"The community members had lamented for years for the government to give them the land. We don't want a situation whereby the rich takes from the poor. We are keen on how the matter will be resolved," the Kilifi-based resident claimed.
Past reports indicated that the 500 youth had lived as squatters for years around the estate and sought rightful ownership of the land.
Democratic Action Party (DAP) leader Eugene Wamalwa raised concerns over the incident and instructed the Kenya Kwanza administration to curb the vice before it slides into a full-blown tussle.
"There is a worrying trend of Zimbabwe-like invasions of private property across Kenya from the Coast to the Rift Valley! Did the Kenya Kwanza Regime open a Pandora's Box?" Wamalwa posed in a statement dated April 10, 2023.
