Court protects land size for 177 Kidutani squatters in Kilifi

A High Court in Malindi has stopped the Ministry of Lands from reducing the land allocated to 177 squatters in Kidutani, Mtwapa, even as it allowed the government to proceed with a new land adjudication process that had faced stiff opposition.

Justice Mwangi Njoroge issued the directive while ruling on a 2022 petition filed by squatters led by Rumba Matano Beja, who sought to block the formation of a new committee to manage settlement of land in the area.

They argued that the land was already adjudicated in 1980 and had since been allocated.

"The adjudication on this land will apply to the 177 plots, including the public utility, which were demarcated in 1980 under stalled 1980 settlements process,” said Justice Njoroge.

The judge declined to halt the fresh adjudication entirely, noting that stopping it could fuel endless land disputes. However, he ordered that during the new demarcation process, the original plot sizes assigned to the squatters must remain intact.

"A strange twist of events, this court has found that though the petitioner's rights have been violated or to be under threat, the bulk of the prayers sought cannot be issued," he ruled.

Squatters argued they had waited for decades to receive title deeds after receiving allotment letters following the 1980 exercise.

Their lawyer, Richard Ngare, said repeated government attempts to declare the letters void threatened their property rights.

"After that land adjudication in 1980, we were issued letters of allotment, and we expect to be issued with title deeds as a right to property," said Beja.

Justice Njoroge instructed the Ministry to refer to minutes from the 1980 adjudication to guide the new process and to ensure the petitioners were not deprived of their plots.

He also barred the government from reclaiming the land already allocated.

In its defense, the Ministry of Lands stated the land was still government-owned and could be allocated to eligible settlers. They maintained their actions aimed to promote fairness and proper management.

But squatters said they had a rightful claim and accused local administrators of organizing meetings to introduce new claimants on the land, leading to confrontations with authorities.

"We have evidence that two public meetings have been convened in which they had tried to claim there were other squatters who are supposed to be settled on the land," Beja stated.

They alleged some individuals tried to sell parts of the disputed land, triggering violence as the squatters resisted the grabbing attempts.