Freshly settled Kilifi squatters accused of selling allocated land at throwaway prices

A section of squatters in Kilifi County who recently received title deeds from President William Ruto have reportedly sold their land and relocated to private farms, raising concern among local leaders.

Political leaders in the county say they are grappling with a growing number of beneficiaries disposing of their land at throwaway prices shortly after receiving ownership documents.

For years, leaders and land rights activists along the Coast have expressed concern over the rise of so-called "professional squatters", individuals who invade private land, secure government resettlement, then sell the allocated plots and move on to occupy other parcels.

Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) Coast chapter chairman Nagib Shamsan claimed that some of these groups are organised and often use force when invading private farms.

Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro and Malindi MP Amina Mnyanzi said it was troubling that some families prepare sale agreements even before receiving their title deeds.

The leaders spoke during the issuance of title deeds to some of the more than 5,000 beneficiaries in the Msabaha area of Malindi Sub-county.

Mung’aro warned residents against selling their land at low prices after receiving the documents.

He also revealed that President Ruto had formed a committee comprising the governors of Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale, Lamu, Tana River and Taita Taveta counties, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho and Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya to identify additional land for the resettlement of squatters.

“There are many title deeds that have been processed for our people, and I will be going round to distribute them to the beneficiaries. We also have many other parcels of land that we are identifying so that they can be bought and people settled,” he said.

Mnyanzi said local leaders should take advantage of their working relationship with President Ruto to ensure all squatters are resettled and the long-standing landlessness problem addressed.

“We are going to utilise our good relationship with President Ruto so that we can get more development to our region and resolve the squatter problem for good. It has been a campaign tool for many years, but we are very confident Ruto will end that,” she said.

Nominated MCA Betty Kache urged families to maintain peace and unity after receiving title deeds, citing cases of land-related disputes that have torn families apart.

“Let these title deeds be a unifying factor in our families, and let no one sell their land without involving other family members because many families have been torn apart because of greed by some of their members who sell land at throwaway prices and leave the rest of the family suffering,” she said.