Kwale land ownership controversy brews – Weekly Citizen

A section of residents of Golini ward in Kwale county want the government to conduct fresh land survey and verification exercise to end land wrangles in the area.
The aggrieved residents say that such an exercise would expose politicians and businessmen who fraudulently benefited from skewed land allocation in the area.
Land cartels and the Kwale county lands office are blamed for the current brewing troubles.

Chidzuga

As land disputes grow deeper in Golini ward, Matuga subcounty, unfairness in land ownership is alarming and locals have lost hope in the land office as foreigners hold title deeds of most land while natives become squatters.
Weekly Citizen has established that land assessment and adjudication has been carried out in the past by the National Land Commission but nothing came out of the process.
Instead, people from outside the scheme come well equipped with ownership documents. Residents now want fresh survey conducted for fairness to prevail and issuance of genuine title deeds to enable them utilise their land well.
Despite local land office having the capacity of verifying information on various plots before issuing title deeds, the officers are compromised by investors.
The land ownership documents are being issued to people from outside Kwale for land which already belonged to the residents after officers being bribed to a tune of Sh1 million.
The National Irrigation Board director and former Kwale county women representative Zainab Chidzuga questioned why the local police allowed themselves to be compromised and misused by land grabbers who walked with surveyors during the night.
An Assistant County Commissioner in Kwale Dennis Barasa said it was wrong for the police to be partisan in land matters and said residents’ complaints would be investigated and appropriate measures taken.