A section of residents in Kwale County has rejected title deeds recently issued by the government, arguing that the parcels listed in the documents are smaller than the ancestral land their families have occupied and cultivated for decades.
The residents said the issuance of the title deeds had failed to settle their long-running land disputes, with some claiming they had been allocated plots measuring as little as 50 by 100 feet despite traditionally occupying and farming much larger pieces of land.
They also questioned the manner in which the land was subdivided, noting that population growth had resulted in several people settling on parcels that were previously occupied by fewer families.
“The land that originally had about 900 people had grown to more than 2,000 residents, creating pressure on the available parcels,” one resident claimed.
The residents further alleged that about 75 per cent of those earmarked for land allocations had not received title deeds, while some of the original landowners were also left without documents confirming ownership.
“The land had already been measured under settlement schemes, but the resulting allocations did not reflect the size of the land they had historically occupied,” another resident said.
The complaints emerged a week after President William Ruto issued more than 94,000 title deeds in Kwale County as part of government efforts to resolve longstanding land ownership and squatter problems at the Coast.
Ruto handed over more than 26,000 title deeds to beneficiaries at Kibaoni in Lunga Lunga Constituency. The documents covered residents of Lunga Lunga, Mwereni, Knana, Mkono wa Ndungu, Gombat and Anzwan ranches.
During the ceremony, the President said the government was targeting the issuance of 500,000 title deeds to beneficiaries across the Coast by the end of the year.
“When I sought your votes in 2022, I promised that I had the answer to the land question at the Coast. You are now witnesses that we meant what we said,” he said.
Despite the government's efforts, the Kwale residents maintained that issuing title deeds alone would not resolve their grievances if the documents covered parcels significantly smaller than the land they had historically occupied.
The residents also blamed some local leaders for challenges surrounding land allocation and called on President Ruto to intervene.
They want their ancestral and cultivated land to be properly surveyed and ownership disputes resolved, arguing that they should not be issued title deeds for parcels they consider inadequate.
