At 85, Maswili Mulwa should be enjoying his sunset years surrounded by his grandchildren. Instead, the ailing man is heartbroken, embroiled in a bitter, long-running land dispute with the children of his late neighbour, Kisese Mutwanthele.
“Kisese was a friend. I had no problem with him. However, I have a problem with his children and grandchildren. They have encroached on my land,” a frail Mzee Mulwa told the Nation at Mutulani Village in Makueni County.
But Kisese's children: Munywoki Mutwanthele, Willy Wambua, Morris Muli and John Kioko deny the accusation. They, instead, accuse Mzee Mulwa of encroaching on their family's land.
The tug-of-war has now landed in the Makueni courts and at the heart of the dispute is a long-standing boundary row between Kilili and Mumbuni locations.
The tug-of-war has now landed in the Makueni courts and at the heart of the dispute is a long-standing boundary row between Kilili and Mumbuni locations.
The dispute resurfaced last year after Mzee Mulwa buried his wife Mutunge Maswili in a corner of the contested land. An attempt by the complainants to stop the burial has thrown the spotlight on a conflict that has lasted more than 40 years and caused bad blood between the two families.
Three different survey maps of the affected area present conflicting information on the administrative boundary, further complicating the dispute.
Mzee Mulwa has presented the different maps in court, prompting a Makueni magistrate's court to seek the intervention of Makueni Land Registrar Roseline Soo and County Surveyor Elizabeth King'ai to identify the correct map.
The confusion has affected more than six households in the area with some residents signalling their readiness to join the case as interested parties.
A Makueni court handling the matter put the two officials on the spot after they failed to attend a boundary verification exercise convened at the disputed land laast week.
During the visit, Magistrate Cosmas Maundu came face to face with the simmering tensions when he visited the site and witnessed shouting matches between the two parties.
“We expected the Makueni Land Registrar and the County Surveyor to be present to shed light on the boundary issue. We have summoned them to appear in court on July 14, 2026, to explain why they missed today's session,” Mr Maundu said last week.
The day before the court visit, Mzee Mulwa had paid Sh66,000, which the surveyor had demanded as fees for visiting the disputed land.
“The two officials were in court in person when the orders were issued. We do not understand why they failed to attend a session scheduled in their presence,” said Pauline Mwaniki, a lawyer representing the other family.
Indigenous dispute resolution
When the dust settled, Mzee Mulwa expressed his frustrations and asked the court to allow him to pursue an indigenous dispute resolution mechanism.
“The court should allow me to administer a Kamba oath to ascertain the truth about the land dispute,” he said.
Watching from his wheelchair, Mzee Mulwa witnessed fresh drama when the complainants protested the magistrate's attempt to ascertain the distance between his wife's grave and a live fence that forms the contested boundary between the neighbouring families and locations.
“It is only the Land Registrar who is supposed to verify boundaries,” John Kioko Kisese shouted as the magistrate led court officials towards the gravesite.
Mzee Mulwa also suffered a setback after the court allowed Makueni County Attorney Stanley Nthiwa to continue representing the complainants despite his objections over an alleged conflict of interest.
“The issue of conflict of interest by Mr Stanley Nthiwa was not substantiated. I therefore decline that prayer by the applicant,” Mr Maundu ruled.
