Ruto's Coast land reform drive runs into allocation disputes
President William Ruto at Mama Ngina Waterfront Grounds where he issued 5,000 title deeds to beneficiaries from the Dongo Kundu, Waitiki, Mwakirunge, Mikindani and Mafisini settlement schemes in Mombasa County.
Disputes have emerged over the government's move to issue title deeds to residents in Coast counties, with some beneficiaries complaining that they have been shortchanged in the process.
The grievances range from allocations covering smaller plots than those residents have occupied for years, to locals being left out of the programme and title deeds bearing locations far from their actual residences. The complaints threaten to undermine President William Ruto's efforts to address historical land injustices in the region.
Last month, during his Coast tour, the president said the government had allocated Sh10 billion in the 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years to address the squatter problem, including purchasing land from absentee landlords. He linked the initiative to his 2022 campaign pledge to resolve the Coast land question, which he said had contributed to poverty, conflict, evictions and displacement.
According to the government, some 20,189 title deeds were handed over to Lamu residents. Part of those who benefited were residents of Vipingoni Scheme in Lamu East Sub-County.
Since independence, families at the scheme, which is situated within the vast Ndau Island, had lived in anxiety, lacking legal ownership of the land they built their lives on.
Weeks later, Ndau Residents Land Committee chairperson Mohamed Bwana Edhwa decried that between 800 and 1,000 indigenous families, some of whom had inhabited specific ancestral tracts of land for generations, were missing from the list of beneficiaries.
Mr Bwana expressed disappointment that in their place, titles had been issued to individuals who were non-residents or newly arrived claimants.
He pleaded with both the county government under Governor Issa Timamy and the national government under President William Ruto to consider undertaking a transparent review of the Vipingoni allocation to establish whether the process followed the law and ensure that all eligible beneficiaries are considered.
“First, President Ruto announced that 2,765 residents of Vipingoni benefited from the exercise yet 1,968 titles were issued. Secondly, out of the 1,968 titles, between 800 and 1000 indigenous people were left out while non-residents were considered in the land allocation,” said Mr Bwana.
He added, “We welcome the formal resettlement but having unknown people introduced in the list of beneficiaries of Vipingoni Scheme at the expense of genuine, deserving indigenous people is disappointing. As a community, we’re demanding an official audit of the Vipingoni land adjudication. We want full involvement just to ensure no deserving person is left out.”
Mr Ahmed Ali, a resident of Ndau, expressed fear that there is the likelihood of administrative manipulation or flawed land adjudication registers during the picking of beneficiaries of the Vipingo Scheme.
“They waited until it was just a day before President Ruto’s visit. That’s the time they made open the list of beneficiaries, calling on residents to verify their names. I feel they did that intentionally to confuse us and pave the way for names of their people to be sneaked into the list. We need the whole exercise repeated,” said Mr Ali.
The residents also complained that more than 400 acres of land within the Vipingoni scheme were reserved for government use and public utilities without any public participation.
Mr Shekue Athman insisted that the title deeds for the Vipingoni Scheme were meant to formally resettle the Ndau Community, the first group of post-independence Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country.
During the Shifta war of 1963 to 1967, Lamu residents were displaced from mainland villages such as Kiunga, Ishakani, Mwambore, Rubu, Mvundeni, Simambaye, Bodhei, Mkokoni, Sendeni and Ashuwei. Some took refuge on the islands.
“We want the law to be followed to the letter on land allocation. We wonder why many indigenous people were left out, while some people got five to 10 acres and others an acre or less. We do not know the procedure used. This anomaly should be corrected,” said Mr Athman.
Lamu County Lands CEC Tashrifa Bakari Mohamed said those complaining about the Vipingoni Scheme should come out to at least submit numbers.
“They’re complaining that the allocation didn’t go to their people, yet they are the ones who submitted the list for titling. We will give a brief on Monday,” said Ms Bakari in a text.
Similar concerns were raised in Tana River County, where Governor Dhadho Godhana has accused the government of issuing title deeds to residents for land in areas where they do not live.
Mr Godhana said the exercise was conducted without involving county governments and warned that the alleged irregularities could trigger land disputes and threaten security in the Coast region.
“Some residents from the Delta were given title deeds for land in the northern parts, while some from the North were allocated land in the Delta. Those from Galole were given land in Turkana. There are many stories surrounding the distribution of land and title deeds,” he said.
The governor said his administration had not been involved in the exercise despite the direct impact of land ownership on residents and development in the region.
He said residents had mandated him to convey their grievances to President Ruto and demand that the process be suspended and conducted afresh to address the alleged irregularities.
Some residents of Kwale County had also claimed they had been issued with title deeds for smaller parcels of land than those they owned.
“President Ruto had good intentions, but some people interfered and derailed the process. They should be held accountable. Some are politicians, while others work at the National Land Commission. Before people go to court, the exercise should be suspended and repeated,” he said.
However, government officials said the process was transparent, and county governments, together with local community representatives, were involved.
Lamu County Commissioner, Stephen Sangolo, advised those with complaints to go back to the local land committee for identification and verification.
Mr Sangolo explained that whenever complaints arise after titles have been issued, returning to the local land committee is the standard administrative step to follow.
He highlighted various circumstances that can cause an eligible individual to be left out of a final land settlement scheme roster. One such circumstance is when the specific parcel of land was subject to a boundary dispute or conflicting claims by multiple parties, where the committee might have withheld the title until the issue is resolved.
“They can, as well, come to my office for advice on whether their complaints are genuine and indeed deserve consideration,” added Mr Sangolo.
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Additional reporting by Winnie Atieno
