Scramble for land on as work on Kwale's Shimoni port starts

Speculators out to make a killing from the construction of the Shimoni port in Kwale County are said to be behind the grabbing of land as would-be investors flock to the region.

While the port will open up the area to socio-economic development, locals are concerned about the scramble for land parcels in an area where huge tracts are communally owned but which outsiders see as fallow or available for sale.

Locals said land buyers have started approaching individual land owners or communities.

This is because the law puts community land under the care of locals identified on the basis of ethnicity, culture or similar interests.

A few years ago, Shimoni was a quiet, deserted area with fishing and transport activities the economic mainstay for locals between Wasini Island and the mainland.

The port project has seen more business emerge in Shimoni trading centre.

A perimeter fence has already started being set up near the Shimoni jetty, a sign that work on the port will begin soon.

The government will pump Sh2.6 billion into the first phase of the project and the Kwale government has transferred a title deed to the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) for the land. 

The need for a fishing port is justified by the deficit of 365,000 tonnes of fish against an annual demand of 500,000 tonnes.

But residents, fearing that their land will be grabbed, are calling for the government to revoke all title deeds and issue fresh ones to locals.

Mwambani Kiruwa, a member of the Shimoni Women Group, which has about 50 members, is in distress following the loss of a piece of land she claims the group was granted by the government several years ago.

“We have a title deed that has our group name on it, but recently, after a new land survey, we were told that the piece of land belongs to the government and we should vacate,” she said, explaining that the same land was used by the women for meetings when they would make mats for sale.

Residents claim that land disputes had spiked since plans for a fishing port were announced, and non-locals claim they own pieces of land that locals say are ancestral.

“This is disheartening. We would like to own the land as we used to because the activities we would conduct used to help us educate our children. Since we were told that we are no longer the owners, some women have lost faith in the group,” she said.

For Njama Paraho, he claimed his five-acre land is targeted and he has been evicted several times and his house burnt.

“I moved here because my grandparents used to stay here. I do not own a title deed yet, but I do not understand why suddenly someone who is not a local has come and now claims that his land is his. This is injustice,” he said.

And 46-year-old Nassir Kilua, a resident of Shimoni, raised the same concern, saying he had inherited his ancestral land whose ownership was now being claimed by a new person.

“I do not understand how our grandparents were not given the land, yet they have lived here all this time. How does someone who is not one of us claim that they even have a title to the land? We are living as squatters and yet we are Kenyans,” he asked.

He urged the government to consider the rights of native residents who were being evicted and their houses burnt down.

Human rights organisations have urged the government to revoke all titles for land in Shimoni and conduct a fresh survey that will ensure every resident gets documents for the land they own.

Justice Restoration and Child Care Organization programme officer Mohammed Mwakuyala said cases of land grabbing and locals being threatened are increasing.

At least 50 families have been affected by the demolition of structures.

“Since the construction of Shimoni port was announced, there are private developers who are now using local administrative units to acquire land illegally and harass residents,” he said.

He added that Mjimwiru, Anzwani, Tswaka and Misufini were among the most targeted areas.

He added that besides traditional shrines, land that is in schemes has also been grabbed by people claiming to have titles for them.

He accused administrators of being used by land grabbers to harass vulnerable residents who have lived on the land without titles for a long time.

“Those invading ancestral land should be found and questioned on how they came to acquire the land without the knowledge of any local,” he said.

He said land officials and the National Land Commission had failed in their mandate.

He claimed local officials are used by private developers and grabbers, adding that many of those who claim to own the land have fake titles.

“There is a scheme that is coming up where professional grabbers are partnering with wealthy people who later identify a vulnerable village and evict residents because they know people here have been living without titles all their lives,” he added.

Mr Mwakuyala added that President William Ruto’s government should ensure that the squatter issue is addressed by allocating residents land as he had promised during his election campaigns.

But Lungalunga Deputy County Commissioner Joseph Sawe said residents were yet to raise the issues to the authorities, as he denied that police officers and chiefs were being used in the land-grabbing syndicate.

Mr Sawe said most of the residents who are complaining about land injustices do not file formal complaints in the offices.

“The problem is that they only complain on social media. Let them report to us for action because currently they have no information,” he said.

SIDEBAR
The feasibility study for the project was conducted by Maritime & Transport Business Solutions from the Netherlands and completed in 2020. Key components of the project include the construction of a jetty parallel to the existing one, refurbishing existing offices, and setting up a yard, cold storage facilities and a fish market. The project was delayed by geographical issues as the land initially allocated was not good enough for a port. Shimoni also has heritage sites, such as colonial ruins and slave caves, which attract researchers and tourists.

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