Residents of Ndau Island in Lamu County have raised concern over alleged irregularities in the processing of title deeds for their Vipingoni farmland on the mainland.

They urged the County and National governments to ensure that deserving residents who missed out are considered, and that titles issued to non-residents are cancelled, alleging that hundreds of local residents were left-out while non-residents benefited

Sheikh Mohamed Bwana Edhwa, Chairman of the newly formed Ndau Residents Land Committee, said 1,968 title deeds were issued, but more than 800 local residents did not receive theirs.

He said several people who are not indigenous to the area, were allocated multiple parcels.

“We are saddened that hundreds of deserving people applied for title deeds, but were left out, while some people we do not know got multiple allocations. We want the locals to benefit from the vast land and the names of those sneaked into the list struck out. We want fairness in the exercise,” Edhwa said.

Edhwa was elected by a group of Ndau residents at a Mombasa hotel. He said the Committee will meet Lamu Governor, Issa Timamy and County Executive Committee Member for Lands, Tashrifa Mohamed, to seek correction of the allocations.

The titles were part of the 20,189 deeds President William Ruto issued to Lamu residents at Mokowe on October 3. The President promised to return in December to hand over more ownership documents.

According to the residents, they welcomed the formal resettlement but were disappointed when the adjudication team on the ground introduced unknown people into the list of beneficiaries, while locals were left out.

They also noted that there was no public participation in the exercise, in which more than 400 acres were reserved for government use.

“We want to raise our grievances with the governor and ask for our full involvement to ensure Ndau residents fully benefit from their land. We do not want any deserving person to be left out,” Edhwa said.

The Committee’s advisor, Abdulaziz Shekue Athman, said the title deeds for the farmland near Boni forest were meant to formally resettle the Ndau Community, the first group of post-independence Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country.

During the Shifta war of 1963 to 1967, Lamu residents were displaced from mainland villages such as Kiunga, Ishakani, Mwambore, Rubu, Mvundeni, Simambaye, Bodhei, Mkokoni, Sendeni and Ashuwei. Some took refuge on the islands.

Athman said unscrupulous people had left out genuine farmers and allocated several parcels to outsiders who want to use the land for speculation.

He linked this to the arrival of investors such as Aliko Dangote, who is building a multi-billion shilling project in Lamu County.

“We want the law to be followed to the letter on land allocation. We wonder why many indigenous people were left out, while some people got five to 10 acres and others an acre or less. We do not know the procedure used. This anomaly should be corrected,” Athman said.

He added that local residents were not properly informed about the allocation process, contrary to the Constitution’s requirement for public participation.

By Ramadhan Nassib