Erect beacons to avert conflict on Waitiki farm, Government told

Lack of physical beacons on the vast Waitiki farm could be a source of conflict in future, the county administration has warned.

Survey on the 930-acre parcel was completed last Monday and about 11,381 land and property owners on the farm would next month be issued with title deeds.

And separately, at least 32 tenants in landowner Evanson Kamau Waitiki's houses in Likoni, which he recently surrendered for the resettlement of thousands of squatters, fear being left out in the exercise.

Yesterday, county officials urged the national government to send back land officers to erect beacons on the plots, saying the county government had  already provided cement and iron bars for the exercise.

Acting Lands Executive Anthony Njaramba told a press conference in his Mombasa office yesterday that issuance of about 900 title deeds at Mwakirunge squatter settlement scheme in Kisauni last year remained a major source of conflicts as some titles were not aligned to plots on the ground.

"Work on the Waitiki farm was well done except that physical beacons were not erected while our people are not used to digital beacons.

"We are appealing to the national government to partner with us again and put up those beacons to avoid similar land disputes witnessed at Mwakirunge scheme which has stalled as the papers and plots are not aligned," said Mr Njaramba.

He said it would be better for the survey work to be delayed but done right once and for all, so that the Waitiki scheme is used as a model for other informal settlements in the country.

He added that Mombasa residents preferred beaconing of land before titling.

Director of physical planning and head of the Government task force that surveyed the Waitiki farm Augustine Masinde assured that beacons would be erected soon to address the concerns.

"We carried out the survey and captured information digitally on the ground. We are going to collaborate with the county government to erect the physical beacons," he said.