Residents of in Mtwapa engaged police in running battles and torched houses over the alleged grabbing of land they claim to own.
Police officers used their riot shields, plates and plastic tins to scoop sand for putting out the fire at a house in Mtwapa after angry youth set it ablaze. The youth claimed that the owner is colluding with a powerful individual to grab their land.
The squatters were protesting the evictions where the land grabber claimed that the original owner had allowed them to occupy the land in which they had settled in.
Scores of people were repoter to have been injured as residents of Kijijini estate in Mtwapa confronted police who were manning an eviction exercise in the area
Police arrested the area MCA has been and is currently being detained at Mtwapa Base Police Station.
JUST IN:Police kill 4 including a 15 year old boy during operation to forcefully eject settlers from a disputed farm in Mtwapa.#Sheikh #Wetangula
— Irene_Mwangi (@theirenemwangi) May 21, 2019
Residents of Mtwapa, Kilifi County engage police in running battles protesting eviction from well connected land grabbers arguing the original owner had allowed them to occupy the land.
Cartels everywhere, justice must be served to the squatters! pic.twitter.com/wowmyTISQj
— Cyprian Nyakundi Escobar (@CisNyakundi) May 21, 2019
Popcorns started being popped in Mtwapa since 7am. Its been cat and mouse game between Police and squatters and boda boda riders. Blockades,teargas, crys you name it. #NTVToday #TuesdayThoughts #KTNMorningExpress #semanacitizen pic.twitter.com/QWVm7o4xcC
— Polycarp Pas P (@P_pasp) May 21, 2019
In 2018, Residents of Jumba Ruins in Mtwapa, Mombasa county held protests over the alleged grabbing of a 127-acre land they claim to own.
The piece of land was once used for Agricultural research by the government, through the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute but after they left, it is alleged that some tycoons took the land, subdivided and sold it to influential buyers George Masha, chairman of the residents, said.
He said they have been occupying the land for over 40 years adding that the interest in the property started growing in the 1970s.
Governors at the Coast had proposed measures to end historical land injustices, land grabbing and resettle squatters. Kilifi governor Amason Kingi had called for a Constitution amended to turn all absentee landlords’ parcels into public land. The land, he said, will be subdivided and used for settling residents.
“We don’t want Coast land issues to be put in an Act of Parliament but in the Constitution, because no one can challenge the Constitution. The Constitution should state that all land belonging to absentee landlords must be made public land for the purpose of subdivision and settlement of the Coast people,” he said.