Residents from over 300 families in Kalafuu, Mkondoni and Sina Mbio villages in Lamu county have expressed their fear of being thrown out of their ancestral lands by over 15 groups who now claim the land belongs to them.
The groups are believed to be targeting the land because it borders the upcoming Sh2.5 trillion Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor project which is set at Kililana in Lamu West constituency.
In an exclusive interview, Jackson Maanzu, a resident of Kalafuu area said the groups have been frequently been visiting the area with fake title deeds, taking advantage that at least 60% of the land in Lamu has not been demarcated nor title deeds given, and is still marked as public land.
"Cartels are scrambling for our land because it is located close to the Lapsset project. The tycoons come armed with fake title deeds and want to grab our ancestral land. We will never accept that and we tell the government to stand with us," he said.
On Monday, the families issued a presser saying they had lived on the land for over 20 years and were ready to defend it.
"We have lived on this land for more than 20 years. We have made so many developments and since then, no one has come out claiming ownership. Today, someone comes with a title deed demanding that we move out.
"You can imagine so far at least 15 people have already turned up this year alone while armed with the title deeds claiming to be the rightful owners of our ancestral land. I appeal to our Governor Fahim Twaha to push the NLC and ensure land is demarcated and that we are issued with titles,” Chonde Hassan, a village head from Mkondoni said as quoted by Nation.