Kaya elders have vowed to fight for their ancestral land in Utange, Mombasa County despite it being declared private property.
The Kaya elders and residents were last week arrested by police for trespassing into the disputed private property.
Kaya Committee Chairman Charo Nguma claimed that the 135-acre land was grabbed stating that it is legally theirs.
The thousands of squatters who were occupying the land claimed they have ancestral entitlement to the property.
Charo said the arrest of the elders and residents will not intimidate them from fighting for what he claimed belongs to them.
“We will not be intimidated and cowed by any threats. We will continue to fight for this land because it has been our ancestral land for years.”
Speaking during a thanksgiving ceremony in Mombasa, the chairman said Kaya elders are respectable members of society and “they are known to be mediators and peace makers.”
“The community will not stop fighting for our ancestral lands that we know have been grabbed,” he added.
The police had however warned residents and Kaya elders not to disobey the law by invading and occupying the land which is private property.
The National Land Commission had announced on Tuesday that the land belongs to Jonathan Kagiri who holds a 99-year lease which he obtained in 1967.