Land ownership woes in Kilifi County seems to be far from over. This is after a Somali tycoon evicted more than 15 families.
The businessman is said to be with the assistance of police evicted the residents in Majivuni area in Magarini forcing the families to spend the night in the cold. The Somali tycoon allegedly demolished their houses in a dispute over a 10-acre parcel of land in Majivuni .
The locals told journalists that the tycoon in the company of more than 30 police officers from Malindi and a grader raided their home at 2 am, ordered everyone out of the houses before they demolished all buildings.
The tycoon in a rather strange occurrence tried to excavate a grave belonging to their grandfather who was buried a long time ago.
When the media visited the village in the morning, the villagers including children, women and the elderly were trying to come to terms with the loss, pondering what their future holds. The destruction had affected them.
Some were trying to set up temporary shelters while others just kept the remaining household items under trees.
Looking too traumatized, children were not able to go to school a clear picture of how the land menace in the region has affected families and destroyed hopes for many of the communities in the coast.
Nema Kalu one of the victims said the police and the tycoons came in the wee hours of the morning without any notice or court order.
She said children began crying as they all did not know where to go in the dead of the night.
“We had to stay in the cold up to 5 am when they finished the demolition and left we do not know what to do next now because everything was demolished,” she said.
Sammy Karisa Mangi one of the victims said the area is their ancestral land and they have lived in the area for many years and wondered how the Somali tycoon came to become the owner.
He said his brother was arrested early this year but the matter has not gone to court as the tycoon failed to produce a court order to prove land ownership.
“The land belongs to us we inherited it from our grandfather Mangi, in April this year there came a Somali man who wanted to stop us from planting,” he said.
He wondered why the tycoon failed to produce a title deed yet he came with the police and demolished their houses without any court orders.
Mangi said there are 15 families with each family having over two houses all of which were demolished including toilets.
Malindi Sub County Police Commander John Kemboi confirmed the demolition saying they were executing court orders.
Mr Kemboi said the families have had a court dispute with the Somali tycoon since 2016 at the Election Lands Court numb286 of 2016 adding that the court-ordered for eviction since February.
He said the land plot number 7652 Malindi court-ordered people who had occupied the land illegally to be evicted.
“Police went to supervise the eviction to ensure the owner implements the order, and it went on peacefully no one was injured,” he said.
He dismissed claims by the locals that there was no court matter as the case went on and after they lost they appealed and the court ruled in the favor of the Plaintiff.
The Sub County police commander appealed to residents to desist from being used by politicians to get popularity by invading other people’s land instead of buying their own land.
Magarini MP Michael Kingi visited the family members to console them and offered them 30 bales of flour and beans.
The legislator condemned the demolition and accused the police of being used by tycoons to evict locals from land.
Mr Kingi asked Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai to immediately transfer the Malindi OCS and the DCC as they were allegedly engaging in corruption to victimize locals in their land.
“It’s very unfortunate that police officers who supervised the eviction and we pay them salaries opted to be bought like cashew nuts by a tycoon so as to supervise eviction, these cases of evictions have become rampant and is being done to the vulnerable people,” he said.
The lawmaker said his attempts to get information about the dispute from the police went futile as the DCC and OCS answered him rudely and he only wanted to get the reality if the tycoon has a title deed.
He called for proper investigations to be done on the demolition and ensure all court orders are made public together with the title deed.
Furaha Chengo a local leader from Magarini what was happening to the locals was injustice and urged the authorities to stop harassing locals.
He said the tycoon ought to have brought the title deed to prove ownership of the property but he has never done that.
