A group of Kwale County residents have handed back title deeds issued by the national government. Kenyans.co.ke and Pulse Live Kenya reported the move on Tuesday. The residents cite alleged irregularities in the documents and complaints about how the land was allocated.
According to the residents, some deeds state that extra fees must be paid before the titles are complete. They say officials told them at the handover that all payments had been cleared. Lungalunga resident John Kassim told Kenyans.co.ke that the titles "appear invalid" to them, so they are surrendering them.
Some beneficiaries said commercial banks refused to accept the deeds as security for loans. The banks reportedly questioned the titles' validity and value. "We have lost hope in them," resident Moses Makelele said, according to Kenyans.co.ke. He said people had hoped to use the deeds to get loans but cannot.
The residents also complain about plot sizes. They say some people received less land than they had occupied and expected to own. Pulse Live Kenya reported that some families who held large tracts were given plots of just 50 by 100 feet. Kenyans.co.ke said that complaint came from a different group of Kwale residents, who rejected their deeds weeks earlier.
Residents also raised concerns about subdivision. They say some parcels were split among several households as families grew. Some original landowners got no title at all. The residents said they want the errors fixed before they accept the deeds again.
The dispute follows President William Ruto's handover of more than 94,000 title deeds in Kwale County in October. More than 26,000 of those went to residents of Lunga Lunga Constituency. During that exercise, Ruto said the government aims to issue 500,000 title deeds across the Coast by the end of 2026.
The residents are asking the president to step in and cancel the disputed certificates. They also want him to return to the area to oversee the issuance of corrected deeds that match their land. Neither outlet carried a response from the government.