More than 1000 residents of the Mtwapa Maweni Settlement Scheme are requesting the Ministry of Land, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development to halt the issuance of titles for the 57-acre scheme due to the inclusion of non-residents.
The squatters asserted that most residents were excluded from the final list of beneficiaries, while non-residents were unfairly allocated the land.
“It’s not just a violation of land but also of how people are taken to court. People have been arrested here and trumped-up charges put to them,” the Coast Civil Society Network for Human Rights (CCSNH) Chairman Zedekiah Adika said.
Adika said there were cases of arbitrary arrests of the squatters therefore calling on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution to critically analyze the cases from Maweni.
“This matter of land cannot be used to punish a whole generation of youths in an entire location just because you feel you have the power to take people to court and to get them behind bars. Several times, we had to go to the High Court to get people released on favourable bond terms,” Adika said.
He further alleged that some County Government officers want to benefit from the land that will be given to the community.
“We will name and shame you. The best that you should do is to remove your name from that list and go away, let the land for the poor be left to the poor,” Adika stated.
The Judiciary was urged to expedite the resolution of the case and ensure its orders are respected.
“We will follow up on this matter with the judiciary; we will not relent until the people of Maweni get justice,” he vowed.
The Ministry of Land was urged to deal with rogue Officers who are hell bent to ensure they benefit from the land to the chagrin of genuine squatters.
Felistus Kioko, a resident of Maweni, wants the government officials to disregard the list they were given as it is not of the genuine squatters.
“What the committee itself did was to allocate itself the parcels of land. You’ll find a member of the committee with more than 50 plots, but he has written the names of his friends and family. Many have been allocated the plots, but they don’t even know where Maweni is,” Kioko said.
Furthermore, she questioned who gave the committee the mandate to allocate the parcel of land, usurping the roles of government agencies like the National Land Commission.
Kioko decried that genuine squatters have been left out of the final list that will be allocated the land by the government.
Mwanamvua Salim, a squatter from Maweni, seeks justice as they have been excluded from the list of beneficiaries.
By Sadik Hassan
