Kwale Residents Reject New Title Deeds Over Disputed Ancestral Land Sizes
A section of residents in Kwale County has challenged recently issued government title deeds, arguing that the land sizes recorded in the documents do not match the ancestral property their families have occupied and cultivated for generations.
The affected residents say that while they support efforts to provide legal ownership documents, the titling exercise has created fresh concerns because some families believe they are being recognised as owners of only a small portion of the land they have historically used.
Some residents claim they have been allocated plots measuring about 50 by 100 feet despite having lived on and cultivated considerably larger parcels over many years.
Residents Question How Land Was Subdivided
At the centre of the dispute is the method used to survey and subdivide the affected areas.
Residents argue that population growth and changes in settlement patterns over the years have complicated land ownership arrangements, with several families now occupying areas that were previously held by a smaller number of households.
According to residents, some settlements that initially accommodated hundreds of people have expanded to populations running into the thousands, increasing pressure on available land and making the subdivision process more contentious.
They want the government to review historical occupation patterns, existing settlement records and traditional boundaries before determining the final size of individual parcels.
For the affected families, possession of a title deed alone is not enough if the document recognises substantially less land than they believe belongs to them.
Some Families Say They Are Still Waiting for Titles
Residents have also raised concerns that not every person included in the allocation process has received ownership documents.
Some claim that a significant number of beneficiaries are still waiting for their title deeds, while several people who consider themselves original occupants of the land remain without documents confirming ownership.
They argue that previous surveys conducted under settlement programmes should have provided the basis for allocating land according to the areas historically occupied by individual families.
However, residents say the final allocations in some cases differ from what they expected after the survey process.
The dispute has renewed calls for greater transparency in land adjudication, surveying and the identification of genuine beneficiaries.
Government Rolls Out Major Kwale Titling Programme
The complaints come shortly after the government intensified its land titling programme in Kwale County as part of a wider effort to address longstanding ownership disputes and the squatter problem along the Coast.
President William Ruto recently presided over the handover of approximately 26,000 title deeds at Kibaoni in Lunga Lunga Constituency.
The wider programme in Kwale covers more than 94,000 beneficiaries across several parts of the county.
Communities covered by the titling exercise include areas such as Lunga Lunga, Mwereni, Kanana, Mkono wa Ndugu, Gombato and Anzwani.
The initiative forms part of a much larger government programme aimed at providing formal land ownership documents to residents who have lived for years without secure tenure.
President Ruto has said his administration intends to issue hundreds of thousands of title deeds across the Coast, with the government targeting 500,000 ownership documents in the region by the end of 2026.
The administration says resolving historical land problems could provide families with greater security, reduce disputes and allow property owners to make better economic use of their land.
Residents Call for Fresh Survey of Disputed Parcels
Despite welcoming efforts to resolve the Coast’s long-running land problems, some Kwale residents are asking the government to reconsider disputed allocations.
They want surveyors and land officials to return to the affected areas and establish boundaries through a process that involves local communities and takes historical occupation into account.
Residents maintain that issuing legal documents without first resolving disagreements over parcel sizes could formalise disputes rather than end them.
Some have also criticised local leadership over the handling of the allocation process and are appealing directly to President Ruto and national government land officials to intervene.
Their main demand is for ancestral and cultivated land to be properly surveyed before final ownership documents are issued.
Conclusion
The Kwale title deed dispute highlights the complexity of resolving historical land ownership problems at the Coast. While formal titles can provide families with much-needed security of tenure, residents argue that the documents must also accurately reflect legitimate land boundaries and long-established occupation.
For the government’s titling programme to permanently settle such disputes, affected communities say surveying, beneficiary verification and boundary determination must be handled transparently and with meaningful involvement from residents.
Whether the government reviews the contested allocations could determine whether the latest title deed programme finally resolves decades-old land uncertainty in Kwale or leads to another round of ownership disputes.
