Court throws out case against navy base in Manda Bay

The High Court has dismissed a case filed challenging the establishment of Manda Bay Navy base.

Justice Millicent Odeny threw out the case filed by nine Lamu residents who claimed the land where the base is located is ancestral and was illegally acquired by the government.

The contention was that the Ministry of Defence had bought the land from an alleged land grabber in 1992.

“There was no evidence of any objection or encumbrance to the subdivision or transfer of the suit land to the respondents. The petitioners did not prove any impropriety in the sale and transfer to the respondents. I find that the petition lacks merit and is dismissed with each party bearing their own costs. They also did not sue the said Abdalla whom they stated that grabbed the land from them,” ruled Justice Odeny.

The residents, Aweso Mohamed, Mohamed Daudi, Mohamed Fumo, Beatrice Wangeci, Mbwarahaji Bwana, Mohamed Lali, Kupi Mohamed, Lacho Bahora and Sou Lali filed the case in 2015.

Justice Odeny stated their case was simple and should not have stayed that long in court. “This is a straight forward case, which should not have taken this long to resolve,” she observed.

The nine-member case is that their ancestors were at all material times settled at Magogoni area, Manda, Lamu County until early 1990 is when the Defence ministry allegedly forcefully evicted them to build a Navy Base.

The star witness in the case was Thureya Mohamed. She claimed that although the government took over the land, they were never compensated.

According to her, one Aboud Abdalla allegedly grabbed the land and sold it. She, however, admitted they did not sue Aboud.