National Land Commission in talks with Coast landowners to settle squatters

National Land Commission Chairman Muhamad Swazuri

As many as 40 absentee owners of land at the Coast are willing to surrender thousands of acres to the Government to settle squatters living there, but would need to be compensated.

The National Land Commission (NLC) said negotiations with 10 owners of large swathes of land have been concluded but talks are ongoing with another 30 over compensation that could run into billions of shillings. The land’s status will then change to that of a settlement scheme.

But 40 other absentee landlords ignored summons by the commission and are holding onto their vast land parcels in a region teeming with the landless.

Absentee landlords own huge tracts of land, especially along the 10-mile coastal strip. They trace their title deeds to the 1908 Land Ordinance Act, which awarded them thousands of acres of land and rendered the majority ethnic Miji Kenda squatters on these properties.

Most of these landlords are unknown or live abroad, and squatters on these farms pay annual land rates to their agents. The squatters can only be buried on these farms but cannot erect permanent houses.

Past government reports have blamed the landlessness in the Coast on this phenomenon. The NLC Chairman Muhamad Swazuri told The Standard that his commission is talking to 30 absentee landlords to surrender their land in return for compensation by the squatters.

On Saturday, Dr Swazuri revealed that NLC hd already concluded negotiation with 10 absentee landlords who agreed to the terms of compensation, and added that talks with 30 others are ongoing.

NLC summons

“We have so far concluded negotiations with 10 of the absentee landlords who have agreed on terms of compensation with the squatters. Negotiations with 30 other absentee landlords from the region are going on,” Swazuri told The Standard.

“There are 40 absentee landlords who have refused to honour the summons and when the window period lapses, we will take appropriate action against them,” said Dr Swazuri.

The NLC chairman did not indicate how many squatters live on the land parcels, but he disclosed that 40 large scale landowners have refused to honour NLC summons to discuss this matter. He threatened ‘appropriate action’ against the 40 who are uncooperative at the end of ultimatum issued last year for absentee landlords to own up and identify their land in Kenya.

Although he did not mention the exact acreage of the land that could soon be recovered, Swazuri disclosed that the smallest parcel of land is 10 acres, while the largest parcel of land held by absentee landlords is 3,000 acres and is in Kilifi County.

Sunday, Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir also told The Standard that negotiations on one piece of land at Majengo in Mvita constituency, Mombasa has been completed.

“There are 43 houses on the land and the absentee landlord and those living on the land have already reached a settlement,” he said.

He said negotiations on other pieces of land were ongoing, adding the process was being derailed by the unique issues surrounding each parcel of land.

The Land Ordinance Act of 1908 is blamed for the current state of squatting on the coastal strip. Before the Act became law, the 10-mile strip was ruled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, before it was annexed to become part of the larger British protectorate.

Historical injustices

When Kenya finally attained Independence from Britain, most of the ‘absentee landlords’ who had acquired land through pacts entered with the British, left the country leaving behind landless locals and lifelong squatters. These lifelong squatters, politely referred to as ‘tenants-at-will’ pay a monthly rent to absentee landlords through estate agents.

The NLC said the Government is keen to solve the problem through ongoing negotiations, but landlords are demanding exorbitant prices for the land hence derailing the resettlement efforts. “Some of the landowners have quoted prices beyond the reach of the squatters,” said Swazuri.

On historical injustices, Swazuri said a draft law by his commission that awaits the National Assembly’s approval when the House resumes this month, will include a plan for resolving the matter. Naguib Shamsan, an activist and board member of Kenya Land Alliance, claimed that NLC had slept on the job by failing to resolve the issue through vetting the owners of the land.

He said Mombasa County Government is a big loser in the quagmire as most of those who have built on the land have since stopped paying the monthly land rates.

Shamsan said even though most of the absentee landlords seized the land between 1895-1908, after having promised to put it to farming, the parcels in Mombasa are now a concrete jungle with permanent houses whose plans were approved by the defunct Municipal Council.

He accused NLC of failing to reveal the findings of the inter-ministerial task force recommendation of 2006 that took an inventory of the genuine squatters and landowners of the 10-mile coastal strip.