Over 40 title deeds belonging to grabbed public lands in Lamu County have been reclaimed following a rigorous exercise that saw repeat surveys conducted on suspect lands.
The lands which had been grabbed by tycoons over the years have now been returned to the county government of Lamu and will now be used for public development.
Lamu governor Issa Timamy while leading the exercise said his administration was still in the process of reclaiming more grabbed public lands.
The exercise also applies to all other lands that were acquired irregularly or dubiously by individuals and companies.
Among the reclaimed lands include fish landing sites located in Kiunga, Mokowe, Lamu town and Mtangawanda in Lamu east and west.
The governor warned land grabbers saying his administration would not tolerate theft of private and public lands adding that apart from reclamation of such, stringent legal proceedings will also be instituted against all those culpable.
“For the first time ever we have successfully been able to reclaim title deeds of grabbed lands. We are especially keen to reclaim all fish landing sites belonging to our local fishermen who now have nowhere to operate from. The exercise proceeds until all grabbed lands are back,” said Timamy.
The governor lamented over the continued rise of grabbers who continue to prey on Lamu lands and swore to ruthlessly pursue them and ensure all public lands are reserved for the benefit of the public and future generations.
Land woes in Lamu stem majorly from the fact that most of the lands in the region have never been demarcated since precolonial times while those identified as public lands have no deeds to prove ownership.
The situation has provided an easy loophole for land grabbers who continue to wreak havoc in the region.
