• Brothers have been fighting to prevent their eviction from the land on which they have lived with 470 other families.
• Residents allegedly gave developer four acres to rear his cows before he attained a title to that and 70 more acres.
The fight over a piece of land in Kikambala in Kilifi has left a family mourning their son and searching for two missing brothers.
The brothers were abducted by people in a black unmarked Toyota Fielder outside Shanzu law courts on July 11.
Juma Said, 26, and Samuel Riyango, 30, had just left the court after the hearing of a case in which a private developer is also claiming ownership of the disputed 200 acres.
"They were about to board a matatu when a black car pulled up and four men jumped out. They grabbed the brothers and forced them into the car before speeding off,” a younger brother of the two, Hamisi Bogo, said yesterday.
They reported the matter at Bamburi police station under OB No. 14/17/7/2019.
Kisauni police boss Julius Kiragu told the Star the police are looking into the matter. The police officers were to give a statement on the matter later yesterday.
A third brother, Moses Charo Kombe, died on Sunday at Coast General Hospital where he had been admitted following ill-health.
Kombe had been living in a forest for almost two years, where he was hiding for fear of his life. His health deteriorated while he lived in the forest.
"My husband had been threatened by police officers for a long time. They had been telling him he would finish them. I lost him yesterday [Sunday],” Beatrice Osinyo said, adding that her life is in danger.
The family spoke at Haki Africa offices where they had gone for help.
Two weeks ago, Osinyo was arrested and locked up for four hours together with her two children whom she had picked up from school.
“They wanted me to produce my husband,” she told journalists.
Kombe, Said and Riyango have been fighting to prevent a private developer from evicting them from the land they have been living on with 470 other families.
Said’s wife Catherine Wangeci said she last saw her husband on July 11.
“This is the 12th days since he left home for the hearing and never came back. I don’t know where he is or if he is alive. He is the sole breadwinner of the family,” Wangeci said as she sobbed.
She was holding their third born, a one-month-old daughter.
Haki Africa deputy executive director Salma Ahmed said no family should ever go through such an ordeal in a country that prides itself in the rule of law.
“Police officers in Kijipwa and Mtwapa police stations must produce these two young men. They have the answers because they have been mentioned adversely in all this,” Ahmed said.
Residents Land Protection Organisation of Kenya national chair Dewelly Nyambu said the private developer had first requested to be given four acres to rear his cattle in 2014.
“Because Coast people are always welcoming, they allowed him. But then he went behind their backs and processed a title deed for the land in his name,” Nyambu said.
He said the developer then produced another title deed claiming another 70 acres.
Bogo alleged police officers burnt their house while their mother was inside.
“Neighbours saved her life. She is now paralysed after escaping with injuries," Bogo said.
Edited by R.Wamochie