Squatters seek state's protection from absentee landlords of Mombasa

The decades-old absentee landlords of Mombasa County are partly to blame for the slow development of the region, locals have said.

More than 100 families living in Bondeni, Mwembe Kuku, Mji wa Kale, Kaloleni, Sparki, Majengo, Sidiria, Sargoi, Guraya, Kiziwi and Ziwani areas said they face an uncertain future, hence the need for the National Land Commission (NLC) to issue them title deeds.

The families have built houses on land belonging to the descendants of former Coast rulers who live abroad, especially in Oman, hence the name 'tenants-at-will'.

"We have been paying land rates for decades. We know this place as our only home but we now face an unfair eviction order from the absentee landlords," their spokesperson, Abdullahi Farah, said on Monday.

The squatters said they should be allocated the parcels of land in the coastal city and be issued with title deeds so that they can develop them.

Abdullahi said the tenants pay rent to absentee landlords in Oman, through the Sir Ali Bin Salim Trust.

He asked NLC chair Gershom Otachi to classify their matter as one of the many cases of historical land injustices at the Coast to enable them to benefit from the government's resettlement plan.

Coast residents during a meeting with officials of the National Land Commission (NLC) on March 20, 2024, at which they presented land issues including the matter of tenants-at-will who want title deeds. (Photo: X/NLC)

Decision expected in June

Abdullahi said the long-standing dispute between the tenants-at-will and the descendants of pre-independence coastal rulers (Liwali), who represented the sultan of Zanzibar, is far from over.

The absentee landlords possess the land titles under the Land Titles Ordinance of 1908 when Kenya was an East African protectorate.

"The parcels of land in dispute are registered in the name of former coast ruler Sheikh Salim Bin Khalfan and the titles date back to 1908 but residents are now having problems with the Liwali heirs," he said.

The spokesperson wants families that have been occupying the land belonging to the absentee landlords for decades to be granted ownership documents.

"We have presented our case before the NLC and expect a favourable outcome by June this year to end this problem we have been facing since pre-independence."

He said the squatters have appeared before the NLC several times, submitting their claims of historical injustices for investigation and redress.

Coast residents during a meeting with officials of the National Land Commission (NLC) on March 20, 2024, at which they presented land issues including the matter of tenants-at-will who want title deeds. (Photo: X/NLC)

A complicated case

Noting the complexity of the matter, former Mombasa mayor Rajab Sumba asked President William Ruto to intervene.

Sumba said the tenants should be allocated the land and issued title deeds as security of tenure. He added that the NLC should investigate land allocations at the coast and redistribute public property to the landless.

Sumba further said that most victims are from the Miji Kenda, Swahili and Bajuni communities and that the complaint is unique to Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi and Lamu counties, where absentee landlords rent land to willing tenants who pay ground rent after building houses.

Resident Zuhura Adam spoke of a desperate, long struggle to reclaim "our heritage that we have called home for decades."

"We want perennial threats of the eviction of tenants-at-will to end once and for all and to be given legal protection and security of tenure," she said, adding that most of them are living in fear of auctions by landlords who hike land rates arbitrarily.

Further, she added, the NLC should speedily address the emotive land issue at the coast before the matter gets out of hand.