Displaced for 48 years, group wants Ocean front land back

Mokowe elder Bakar Omar Laussy (in white) addresses the media flanked by members of his community at Hindi Magogoni in Lamu West on Thursday. The group claims they were displaced from their land during the 1963-67 Shifta war. [PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD]

Undeterred by the scorching rays of the tropical sun, a group of elderly men and women emerge from the thick and thorny shrubs in Mokowe area of Lamu County. It is 2pm. They are in a spirited search of graves.

With sweat dripping down into the sands, Mzee Ali Shekue raises his head with optimism and hope the crypts, shrines, communal boreholes and other historical marks would fortify their ancestral claim to the vast parcels of land in the area.