MARCH 2008 "Land-grabbing in Kilifi"

Yesterday, we got the following email from the director of KEMRI in Kilifi:
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Dear ALL,
I have been informed of some security incidents at Bofa on Mr Stubbs farm. A group of people invaded the land and started subdividing for themselves.
I am now informed that the district commissioner has had a meeting this afternoon and has promised to have another meeting on 27th.

I learn a number of staff are living there or near there. Though the situation is calm now, it is important that you exercise caution if you have to visit the site, in particular the area that borders Mr. Stubbs land and the Prison.

It is my hope that the district commissioner will resolve the matter soon.

Director
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It seems that some people from neighboring communities heard a rumor that some land ownership was in dispute. So they showed up to stake a claim. If no one owns the land, the government will give it to whoever has built on it. The procedure is: arrive with some big machetes, clear cut, burn, build, stay. Many of those scrambling for land were speculators who intend to turn around and sell it as soon as they get a deed. Once the frenzy starts, grabbing is not restricted to those areas that may be in dispute. Fences got torn down and even one of the doctors found his house surrounded by men with machetes. Fortunately, some local people came and intervened, explaining that this man was a doctor who took care of their children and they had better not touch him or there would be hell to pay.

Rumor has it that more people are coming to grab land that is part of the Kilifi dairy and sisal plantation. The land is directly opposite Patrick’s conservancy project and another community project called Komaza which has planted several acres of eucalyptus trees. The conservancy looks fairly unused and could possibly become a target. Both projects are concerned about burning which, if it spreads, would be a massive disaster for the conservancy forest that has been protected all these years. Everyone is a bit on edge.

By the end of the week, there were two-thousand people on a few acres of land trying to get a handful of dirt. Some had made a few marches on the plantation, but stopped short of slashing and burning there. Pushed by the white Kenyan landholders (many foreign landholders are living overseas and completely oblivious) the District Commissioner went to Mombasa with some local representatives to look at the land titles at the Provincial Commissioners office. It seems that all of the land is legally owned outright, even though some of it is not being used. Most of the local squatters packed up and moved off, but many of the professional land-grabbers from outside of Kilifi refused to leave. One afternoon, the police started driving them off with tear gas and gunfire. The crowd fled down the road that runs behind the hospital, being chased by the police, still firing guns and tear gas. Some KEMRI folks heard gunshots during their meeting and peeked outside. They were so close that they could smell the tear gas and see people scattering and running every which way. They were afraid that some might jump the fence and cut through the hospital with armed police behind them. They waited out the firefight sitting on the floor of the conference room.

It’s amazing what you just take in stride when confronted with it. Living in Africa has completely altered our sense of reality and we barely even notice it. I am sure that this will somehow affect us when we return to living in a lawful and orderly place again...

All is quiet now and the land-grabbers have moved on. We promise to return you to your regularly scheduled program of light-hearted adventures in East Africa…