Over 300 residents of Mkocheni, Taita Taveta County, have decried being unlawfully kicked out of a 1000-acre piece of land and being awarded two-acre plots.
Speaking on Monday, October 13, the residents relayed the challenges they have been facing since this happened, including receiving defective title deeds for the two-acre plots allotted to them by the government.
According to the residents, their frustrations have been compounded after title deeds awarded to them came bearing wrong names; some had mobile numbers in place of identification card numbers, and others had wrong names.
The residents lamented that they had been forced to sleep in the cold, as they could not build houses on the land they were awarded, a practice mostly affecting the elderly and children.
"Even the two acres that we were given, we have yet to move in because they do not have title deeds, so we cannot start building houses there," one lamented.
"We do not even trust the title deeds because when they came, some did not have the correct names and some had mobile phone numbers instead of ID numbers, so they had to be taken back to be corrected, and we have yet to get them back."As such, they called on both local and regional leaders to help them resolve the land conflict so that they could start occupying their land.
On Sunday night, October 5, the Mkocheni and Kachero residents were evicted from their homes near Lake Jipe, leaving them in the cold.
In the aftermath of the evictions, the Taita Taveta County government came to the defence of its residents, claiming that the evictions had contravened a court order.
In a press briefing on October 7, Deputy Governor Christine Kilalo claimed that the evictions had contravened a court order reportedly issued on June 25, which barred any form of eviction or interference with the residents.
She also cited the blatant violation of constitutional principles, as the eviction was carried out without prior notice, public consultation, or humane resettlement plans.
The county government further claimed that the evictions were being sanctioned by powerful people, claiming, “When I talk about such issues at this time, I feel so bad because people with wealth use their offices to oppress the citizens of Taita Taveta.
"These issues are not happening just in Mkocheni and Kachero; we are waiting for more where people are going to be displaced." by
