Lamu residents whose lands border the new port have accused some companies of grabbing their parcels making it impossible for them to be compensated.
Under the umbrella of the Kililana Farmers Organisation, the landowners claim there have been deliberate efforts by some individuals to forcibly acquire their lands.
The situation cost them millions in compensation monies back in 2015 when the national government paid over Sh1.3 million to those whose lands had been acquired for the port.
A total of 70,000 acres were acquired for the LAPSSET and the affected individuals were compensated by the National Lands Commission.
Speaking on Wednesday, the aggrieved landowners called on the DCI and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the alleged theft of their land and ensure they are compensated for parcels acquired for the port.
A group of tycoons are allegedly in possession of original title deeds of at least 5,000 acres of ancestral lands belonging to the aggrieved residents.
Kililana Farmers Organisation spokesperson Mohamed Rajab accused some officials in the Lands ministry of colluding with moneyed tycoons and irregularly issuing them with deeds for their lands.
If the lands are not repossessed, the affected persons risk losing their lands and equally losing out on the compensation monies.
As part of the grievances, the land owners say 2,500 acres of the 5,000 acres has been inappropriately included in the 70,000-acreage acquired for the port as they have not received a penny in compensation for the same.
“We wrote to the District Land Commissioner in 2008 raising similar concerns. It was a whole report that detailed the ancestral claims to the lands in question in addition to evidence of the current occupation of the land,” Rajab said.
He said subsequent to these complaints, the then, District Development Committee in 2011 identified a number of areas that were to be allocated for the settlement of indigenous communities, Kililana being one of them.
“We’re surprised that today, people have invaded our lands while armed with title deeds. We don’t want to lose these lands that we have lived on for over 30 years,” he said.
Lamu elder and one of those aggrieved Kombo Abushir described those behind the grabbing of their lands as powerful people.
Abushir said their identity as Kililana and Mashunduani residents is intrinsically linked to their continued occupation on the lands.
“Our stay and ownership here can be proved by the burial sites, ruins of mosques, traditional wells and ancient trees. More recent evidence of our occupation here can as well be confirmed by the fact that we have wells, schools, mosques, homes, permanent trees, cash crops, polling stations among others,” Abushir said.
Mwanamina Amin said the fact that their lands were secretly incorporated into the port lands speaks of a plot to deny them justice and steal from them as a community.
She says many of those who were compensated back in 2015 were not the genuine land owners and urged the government to ensure justice is served.
“We were duped and left out of the compensation process yet people who didn’t own a single acre of land here pocketed millions. We are languishing and tycoons are stealing the little acres left,” Mwanamina said.
-Edited by SKanyara
