Kwale residents have rejected newly issued title deeds, claiming the documents give them smaller portions than the ancestral land that their families occupied and cultivated for generations.
The residents are now demanding that the government revoke the disputed titles and conduct a fresh adjudication process based on traditional and ancestral boundaries.
The complaints come just days after President William Ruto toured the Coast region and issued 300,000 title deeds in an effort to address long-standing land ownership challenges ahead of the 2027 general election.
During the President's tour, the government issued more than 26,000 title deeds at Kibaoni in Lunga Lunga subcounty to Kwale and promised to distribute additional documents to rightful landowners before the end of the year.
However, some residents say the acreage indicated in the documents does not correspond with the land they and their families have occupied for decades.
Led by Buda Mbwana of Anzwani village, the residents said they support efforts to formalise land ownership but want the government to ensure that title deeds reflect the actual ancestral land held by families.
“We appreciate the president for giving us title deeds, but they do not reflect reality. We have shambas, not plots,” Mbwana said.
He said some residents had been allocated plots measuring 50 by 100 feet or even smaller, despite their families having occupied larger parcels of land for generations.
Mbwana called on the government to return to the affected areas, consult residents and establish the original boundaries of family land before issuing new title deeds.
Another resident, Dala Enea from Gazi Township, accused the government of treating families who have lived on ancestral land for generations as squatters.
Enea questioned why families that had occupied large ancestral parcels for decades were being issued titles covering less than a quarter of an acre.
“I have children. Where will they go if I am given just a piece of land that is barely a quarter of an acre?” he asked.
Ms Mwatime Ali, a resident of Anzwani, also questioned why residents had been classified as squatters despite having lived on and cultivated their ancestral land for generations.
Ali said residents wanted title deeds covering the land they had traditionally occupied rather than smaller parcels allocated through squatter settlement programmes.
She also described the adjudication process as flawed, alleging that some parcels had been allocated to more than three individuals, creating confusion and fears of future land disputes.
Ali further accused surveyors involved in the adjudication process of disregarding traditional boundaries and creating new ones that had divided ancestral land into smaller portions.
“They have ignored the boundaries that existed before and instead created new ones, dividing our land into small portions,” she said.
The residents are now calling on the government to suspend the disputed titles, conduct a fresh verification of land ownership and consult affected communities to ensure ancestral boundaries are respected before new title deeds are issued.
