Hamisi Suleiman, caretaker, shows the design of the iconic Kongo Mosque in Diani, Kwale County.
Two lobbies have moved to court to revert ownership of the historical Kongo Mosque shrine in Diani, Kwale County, to the local Muslim community.
This is after two individuals claimed ownership of the property and advertised its sale for Sh1.4 billion.
According to court papers, Kongo Mosque is a historic and religious structure built in 14th century by Persian traders. It has been a religious and cultural centre for the Muslim community in Diani and the larger Kwale area for centuries.
Kongo mosque. The name was derived from a name inscribed on a stone at one of the graves in the mosque compound, where Muslim faithful Swaddiq Kongo was buried centuries ago.
Kwale Islamic self-help group and the Muslim community of Kongo Mosque want the court to declare the land public property and revoke the title deed issued in February to Mohammed Hamisi Mwachumba and Ali Mwandarashi Mwagariche.
Court papers indicate that Mr Mwachumba and Mr Mwagariche obtained the title through adverse possession, having occupied the land for over 12 years.
"Last month, March 2025, officials of the two groups discovered that the said parcel of land had been advertised for sale for a sum of Sh1.4 billion. Investigations reveal a convoluted fraudulent scam involving the defendants working together with senior officers of the Attorney-General, National Land Commission and Registrar of Titles to illegally acquire the suit premises and deprive the plaintiffs of their beneficial interest of the same," lawyer Paul Mwangi, for the lobbies, says in the court papers.
Part of the ancient Kongo Mosque in Diani, Kwale County.
In the dispute, the officials are alleging that the land, being a community shrine, the process of issuing the title was marred by fraud adding that the property was not available for allocation to individual persons.
They are accusing government officials at the office Attorney-General, National Land Commission and Ministry of Lands of facilitating the alleged fraud by suppressing evidence that the suit property was at all times public land, which could not be acquired by adverse possession.
Lawyer Mwangi says Mr Mwachumba and Mr Mwagariche got the title deed on February 17, 2025 on the strength of four court orders and decrees issued by Justices Joseph Sergon on November 15, 2007 and Monica Odero dated November 19 and 28, 2014.
He says the court file, where the orders originated, had gone missing from the Mombasa civil court registry where the initial case was allegedly filed in 2005.
"The said defendants did not possess any pleadings, applications, cause lists, payment receipts, affidavits, correspondence or any other documents whatsoever that are customarily generated in all legal proceedings that are conducted in any High Court in the Republic of Kenya," says lawyer Mwangi.
Part of the ancient Kongo Mosque in Diani, Kwale County.
He adds that the Attorney-General's counsel said that their own file had also been lost and they did not have any documents regarding the alleged proceedings.
"According to the judgment purporting to have granted the defendants adverse possession of the said land, the only evidence of possession the two presented was fraudulent evidence in support of their claim. The evidence was composed of two photographs purporting to be images of two houses and several trees allegedly planted by them and thus showing their presence and development on the land," says Mr Mwangi.
Moi link
Claiming that it is not the first time the land is being grabbed, Mr Mwangi says that in 1986 land grabbers conspired with senior government officials and fraudulently allocated the property to then President Daniel Arap Moi and a title deed was processed.
However, in 2009, Moi surrendered the title after discovering that it had been irregularly allocated to him. The government subsequently appointed the National Treasury Permanent Secretary as the trustee to hold the title on behalf of the government and the community.
Part of the ancient Kongo Mosque in Diani, Kwale County.
The Mosque was first recognised as a national monument in 1927 by the colonial government and gazetted as such under the Ancient Monument Preservation Ordinance. After independence, it was declared a protected national monument in 1983 by then Cabinet Minister for Constitutional Affairs Charles Njonjo.
"The defendants’ claim of adverse possession over the said parcel of land is fraudulent as the said land has over several hundreds of years since the 14th century been used by the Muslim community in Diani for the conduct of religious activities and the claimants have never been in possession of the said land," he says.
They have sued Mr Mwachumba and Mr Mwagariche alongside the Attorney-General, National Land Commission and Registrar of titles. The Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission, National Museums of Kenya and Principal Secretary National Treasury are listed as interested parties in the dispute.
Hamisi Suleiman, caretaker, shows the design of the iconic Kongo Mosque in Diani, Kwale County.
Accusing government officials of facilitating the alleged fraud, the lawyer says the officials also suppressed evidence from the local provincial administration that would have shown the two claimants were either known or unknown in the area.
"The Attorney-General, NLC and the Registrar of Titles facilitated the said fraud by suppressing evidence that the said parcel of land claimed by the two defendants comprised lands that had been declared a national monument," says Mr Mwangi.
They want the court to declare the title null and void and that the court proceedings, which led to the issuance of the said title, were a fraud.
They want the court to declare that the proceedings could not be a foundation of any claim of proprietorship over the property.
