NLC: Titles issued for Kilifi land are valid

Land owners within the 10-mile strip along the Kenyan Coast in Kilifi can now breathe easy after authorities recognised pre-independence ownership documents. 

Businessman Mbarak Salim Said (left) tries to gather some of the poles he had used to erect a fence for his plot at Kiembeni which was destroyed by thugs. National land commissions says land title deed since 1908 are recognised. PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD]

The County Lands Management Service Board (CLMSB) and National Lands Commission (NLC) announced that the title deeds issued under the Ordinance Act of 1908 are legal and binding.

The two agencies also announced on Saturday that any title deeds issued against the 1908 ones are fake and fraudulent.

Speaking in Ganda Ward, Malindi sub-county, NLC Kilifi County Coordinator and Secretary to CLMSB,  Ummi Kughulu said it was high time that the political leadership in the region told residents the bitter truth and stopped using land issues as a campaign tool, giving false hope to locals.

“We must all agree that we are squatters here and the sooner we accept that fact, the better we are and will be able to deal with the situation. I want to reiterate here and now, as it is, we have no land of our own here, and we are on the property of other people. The title deeds that were issued under the Ordinance Act 1908 are valid and anybody who claims that they have a title against those of 1908 is telling you a lie and that title is fake,” said Ms Kughulu.

Land owners

The NLC representative, while dashing hopes of residents who want to invade private properties, reiterated it was incumbent on the political leaders to stop using communities for their own selfish gains.

“The more we stay on these lands, the more we will remain in poverty and our problems will never end. Private property must be respected and that is the law,” she said.

 Kughulu added: “However, we have several options available to us; landowners are willing to give the land to genuine people who have lived on those lands for years. You must agree with the landowner on whose land you have settled. Once that is done, as NLC, we will facilitate the fast-tracking of deeds to be issued to you. The other option is to buy the land from the land owners; this is what happened in many parts of the country after independence. Let nobody cheat you that people in Central and Rift Valley provinces were given land by the colonialists; they bought the land. Politicians must stop lying to us and tell us the truth,” she said.

Kughulu was reacting to statements made by Kilifi Woman Rep Aisha Jumwa during the baraza at Mkamoto Primary School in Ganda, Malindi.

Ms Jumwa had brazenly urged the local communities to get prepared to settle on land whose ownership she alleged was unknown, in reference to absentee landlords.

“I am prepared to fight for my people to get settled here. These are our lands. For how long will we remain squatters? Where are these land owners who laid claims on these lands? We are entitled to land in our homes and we must be prepared to settle here once and for all,” said Jumwa.