Three firms linked to Kibarani land grab given notice to prove ownership

National Lands Commission (NLC) Chairman Muhamad Swazuri at a past function. (File, Standard)

Individuals laying claim to land at the Kibarani dumpsite in Mombasa County have been asked to show proof of ownership before a special inquiry that begins on August 15.

National Lands Commission (NLC) Chairman Muhamad Swazuri yesterday issued a seven-day notice to all those laying claim to the land to present tangible evidence of how they acquired the property.

Swazuri was acting on a presidential directive after President Uhuru Kenyatta directed NLC to revoke the allocation of the dumpsite land in Mombasa to private developers.

''We are instituting thorough investigations into how land at Kibarani, including plots that are in water, have ended up in the hands of private individuals. We shall upon conclusion of the inquiry give a verdict to decide the fate of Kibarani,'' Swazuri said when he toured the Kibarani dumpsite.

Swazuri, who was with Mombasa County CEC in charge of Land and Environment Edward Nyale, said the land on which Kibarani dumpsite stands and the adjacent Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) Mombasa plant belonged to the then Ministry of Livestock and Veterinary Services and was formally a livestock holding ground for disease control and fattening.

''We will be investigating how the land that stretches from Shimanzi Fish Landing Site to the Metre Gauge Railway Flyover at Kibarani and which has 55 parcels measuring 32 acres transited from Government land to private land,'' Swazuri said.

He said all those allocated land on water will automatically have their right of ownershiprevoked.