By S, KNA
A wealthy religious leader in Mombasa County has allegedly grabbed land belonging to a single mother located in Kwa Bulo, squatter settlement scheme in Nyali constituency, with assistance from corrupt land officers and some influential personalities.
The victim Caroline Achieng, a retired teacher has been occupying the disputed land measuring 0.53 hectares for the past 35 years and had even established a community school, which closed down at the height of Covid-19 pandemic.
Achieng said she had rented out part of the land to the lady preacher, who paid monthly rent, but she was left in utter shock, when she was suddenly informed that the clergy had acquired a title deed for the same property and now wanted her evicted.
Achieng claimed the preacher told her that the land had been registered under Title No. Mombasa/Kwa Bulo Squatter Settlement Scheme/225.
Records show the title deed granting the preacher a 99-year lease was issued on April 29, 2025 by the government of Kenya.
Achieng is now appealing to the National Land Commission to investigate how the title deed was issued, saying for years, she was tossed from office to office, while pursuing ownership of the disputed land.
“We had agreed with her not to build a permanent structure,” stated Achieng, sobbing uncontrollably. “My grandchildren don’t know any other home except here. I don’t have the money to challenge the preacher; she is rich and powerful,” lamented Achieng.
Achieng is appealing to the government to intervene, revoke the title deed and ensure officials implicated in the alleged land grabbing are arrested and prosecuted in a court of law.
Kadzandani Ward MCA, Fatma Kushe, said she would use dialogue, in the spirit of the broad-based government to ensure justice is served and the land restored to the retired teacher. “The law protects both the rich and the poor,” she said.
Meanwhile a section of 1500 squatters of Kwa Bulo settlement scheme in Nyali constituency, Mombasa County have accused local politicians and land officials of abetting land grabbing by wealthy individuals, thereby denying genuine squatters their rights, despite having occupied the controversial land for more than three decades.
One of them Grace Musyoka, said the community had been reduced to trespassers on a land they have called home for generations.
The disgruntled residents are now urging the National Government to fast-track the disbursement of the Sh2 billion allocated in the 2025/2026 Financial Year to buy land and resettle the affected squatters.
They lamented that the purported land grabbers were forging names, using connections of influential individuals to fraudulently obtain title deeds, after which they seek court orders and subsequent police protection, all aimed at evicting squatters from the land they have occupied for decades.