The Lamu county government has initiated plans to resettle communities on their ancestral land by issuing collective community land title deeds to eradicate squatters.
The move is aimed at doing away with individual title deeds and protecting ancestral land from being carelessly sold to outsiders at throw away prices where individuals once they receive their title deeds, they sell the land and invade fresh lands as squatters.
The county leadership led by the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Lands, Physical Planning, Urban Development, Infrastructure, Energy, Water, Natural Resources and Public Works Tashrifa Bakari, chief officer for lands Ahmed Loo, Kiunga Member of County Assembly (MCA) Mohamed Mbwana and representatives of the National Land Commission (NLC) met members of the Simambae community in Malindi town, Kilifi County to encourage them to embrace the community land concept.
Simambae, Rubu and Mwambore communities are among residents that were the first Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Kenya following the 1964 Shifta war that led to the dissolution of more than ten villages in Lamu East Sub County.
Other villages that were displaced and their members scattered along the coastal strip are Ishakani, Kiunga, Mvundeni, Ashuwei, Matironi, Mkokoni, Vumbe, Saadani, Kiangwe, Ndhununi, and Bodhei communities.
Most of them were forced to find alternative settlements, a situation which rendered the majority of them squatters in their current places of residence and up to date, their ancestral lands are classified as public lands and have never been demarcated or surveyed.
Speaking at the Nidhamia hall meeting that led to selection of a 15-member committee to spearhead the titling process, Ms Bakari said that the community land titling project will safeguard the ancestral lands and cure the squatter problem.
“This project protects the heritage of the Simambae people. By converting individual title deeds into community land, we ensure that residents retain their land for farming and sustainable use, rather than risking its sale,” she said.
She added that areas like Bargoni and Vumbwe had been surveyed, demarcated and title deeds issued to individuals but they instead sold the parcels to outsiders at throw away prices and became squatters again.
“Some villages like Bargoni and Vumbwe had been issued with individual title deeds but most of them have sold all their parcels and are now claiming to be squatters and it is now even difficult to help them that is why we are reverting to community work titling to protect the land,” she added.
MBwana the MCA for Kiunga ward and also the Majority Leader at the County Assembly of Lamu whose area includes Simambae, emphasized the transformative nature of the project saying that already the ratification will be passed in the county assembly to make the process legal.
“This is more than a land project, it is a legacy project and it safeguards the identity, culture, and dignity of the Simambae people.
What I want to urge the more than 2,000 members of Simambae to return to Lamu and also register as voters so that they can get development,” he said.
He added that the process was 90 percent complete and is expected to be finalized by the end of the year and once completed, the county government plans to develop key infrastructure to help the community rebuild their lives on their ancestral land and it will include amenities that support farming and community development.
Abdilahi Mbwana, a community member, reflected on the journey to reclaiming their ancestral land.
“Our forefathers were displaced during the Shifta war in the 1960s and we want to thanks the county government of Lamu for preserving our land and we’ve now reclaimed what is rightfully ours and secured it as community land for our future generations,” he said.
