Over 2,000 Lamu residents fight for their 1,000 acres of land taken over by alleged grabbers
By Joseph Ndunda |
They also want the case to be transferred back to the high court in Malindi to enable them to follow the proceedings and be heard at their convenience.
More than 2000 Lamu residents on the brink of losing their native land to grabbers have petitioned the high court to enlist them in a case filed to stop the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from investigating and prosecuting the alleged land grabbers.
Lawyer Danstan Omari, who has filed the application, said the land grabbers obtained the orders from the high court in Nairobi without the knowledge of the residents who had won a case over the same land at the Environment and Land Court (ELC) in Malindi.
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The residents of Manda Island accuse two companies – Goodson Nine Limited and Goodson Fifty Three Limited- of colluding with others to take over their 1000 acres of land.
A businessman allegedly colluding with the two companies obtained orders from the high court in Nairobi stopping the DCI, DPP and the Inspector General of the police from arresting him together with the proprietors of the two companies and others involved in the alleged fraudulent transfer of the lands to them.
The residents now want the high court to lift the orders obtained from the High Court's Constitutional and Human Rights division in Nairobi to allow the DCI and DPP to continue with their constitutional mandate.
They say the existence of orders issued without their knowledge has a likelihood of adversely affecting and further derogating their rights.
They also want the case to be transferred back to the high court in Malindi to enable them to follow the proceedings and be heard at their convenience.
"These poor peasant fishermen are travelling from Lamu to Nairobi spending Sh3,000 each one way and a similar amount on return because they don't have anywhere to live in Nairobi when following the case," stated Omari.
The residents acquired title deeds for their lands in 2012 and 2013 but have now learnt that other genuine title deeds have been issued for the same parcels of land under mysterious circumstances.
But Omari says records at the County survey offices show that the lands in question belong to the residents. Some of the residents have been displaced and their lands fenced off by the alleged grabbers.
Fatuma Mahmoud, who has sworn an affidavit to support the application, says that together with other residents, they have material disclosure that is pertinent for the court to consider in the determination of the case lodged without their knowledge.
"I was issued with the certificate of registration through a certificate of lease registered in my name and that of my spouse as marked as FM2. I did follow the due legal process in acquiring the said property LAMU/MANDA ISLAND/271 and conducted due diligence procedures to ensure that good title had passed to me," she states in the affidavit.
She says that in 2020, she noticed a project on her parcel of land yet she had not commissioned any project and as such made enquiries to the constructor (the two companies).
She established that the two had acquired title deeds for her land. She is among the residents who want the case to be transferred closer to them to make justice accessible.
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