Gede/Mitangani land finally registered in favour of community

The Gede/Mitangani community land has finally been registered in favour of the community.

The community living on the land has had a long battle with a group of investors who wanted to register the 103.6 hectares as private land under the name Kilifi ranch.

Robert Karisa, Gede/Mitangani community chair said a few people had coerced locals to register the land as a ranch but the plan backfired.

“We were made to believe this was a private runch registered as Kilifi group ranch. We consulted our chief and he wrote to the county government of Kilifi and the ministry of lands for records of this land. It became apparent that there was a plan to register it but we worked swiftly to cancel that plan and acted fast to have it registered as a community land. We have succeeded and the land is now in our hands, legally,” he said

Several tycoons have been eyeing the land.

To register the land, Karisa said the community needed to raise Ksh 3.5 million.

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“We approached the county government to help us in the process but money was not availed. They offered their guidance on the whole process and we raised funds by ourselves and with the help of leaders to secure this land,” he added

The land borders the Tsavo East National park and the Giriama ranch.

Mitangani location Chief Stephen Thethe confirmed that the certificate will be officially handed over to the community on Friday.

Thethe said the registration would help end persistent clashes between the community and investors.

“There were people who were collecting money from investors who are mostly pastoralists looking for water and pasture for their animals. These people claimed to be the bonafide owners of Kilifi ranch. I asked them to bring their documents to prove their claim but they never did. The residents will now get what is rightfully theirs,” he added

The area has witnessed clashes where locals drive away livestock for investors who were leased the land by the directors of the Kilifi ranch.

Kilifi governor Gideon Mung’aro is expected to issue the registration certificate to the community.

Kilifi county assembly speaker Teddy Mwambire who played a key role in the registration process when he was Ganze MP said the journey has been long.

Mwambire said most land in the ranching zones of Kilifi county is controlled by cartels who claim to own the parcels.

“We have seen it in Giriama ranch and other ranches. There are people who are even not residents of that area but they still collect money claiming it is their land. I urge the government to make sure only genuine members of that community benefit from the land,” he said