Over 1000 residents of Mada Islands in Lamu County have moved to the High Court seeking orders to be enjoined in a case of irregular acquisition of their land by a foreign investor.
Through Fatuma Mahmoud and Wafiya Hussein, the residents claim that they have been deprived of their rights to their property which has been frustrated by land officers in the Lamu Registry.
In the case that is filed under a certificate of urgency, the resident’s representatives are urging the High Court to forbid them in a case where the DCI and the DPP have been sued for failing to prosecute perpetrators of illegal land transactions.
Through lawyers Matina Swiga and Danstan Omari, the residents lament that a lawyer and a registrar of lands are the legal minds behind the alleged fraudulent transfer of their land to third parties.
In the case filed at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division, Fatuma and Wafiya are urging the court to entrench their rights under Article 43 by declaring them and other residents of Mada Islands the legal owners of over 1000 acres of land which have since exchanged ownership illegally.
In the certificate of urgency, the petitioners have stated that they have a significant and identifiable stake and legal interest in the case pending at the Milimani High Court.
The petitioners have disclosed to the court that the suspects behind the allegedly fraudulently transfer of their land have secretly filed a case in the Milimani Law Courts and obtained orders prohibiting the DCI from Investigating them and the DPP from prosecuting them,
“We urge this court to grant orders in favor of the petitioners seeking joinder in the case filed by Alex Githinji Njage to avail evidence which will enable the court render a fair decision,” said Wafiya.
The petitioners have disclosed that the Malindi High Court had declared them the legal owners of the land but to their utter surprise the Ministry of Lands Nairobi records show that their land has been allocated to wealthy foreign investors who have begun constructing a holiday resort.
They further urged the court to order the cases filed in Nairobi to be transferred to the Malindi High Court which has jurisdiction in their locality.
Ms Swiga and Omari state in the certificate that the constitutional rights of the applicants have been prejudiced.
The lawyers stated that the Malindi High Court is best suited to determine the case and urged the High Court Nairobi to return the file to Malindi to avoid a backlog of cases.