Developer grilled over 30-acre plot

Mombasa, Kenya: A private developer was yesterday taken to task by the National Land Commission over how he acquired about 30 acres of land at Vitsangalaweni village in Mtongwe in Likoni sub-county.

Abdulbasid Saleh Muhsin, 42, was at pain to explain how he was handed a letter of offer for 13.3 hectares of land 15 years ago, but paid for the land and got issued with a title in 2013.

Mr Muhsin also failed to state when the land was surveyed and the names of the surveyors, but insisted that he followed due process in the acquisition of the land.

"I applied for the land in 1997 and was issued with a title in 2013 after I paid the necessary fee. I did not find any people on the land. I only found some structures and coconut and mango trees that grew in the wild," he told the sitting chaired by NLC Vice Chairperson Abigael Mbagaya Mukolwe.

Amicable solution

Over 300 families currently live on the disputed plot and Muhsin said he had met them to find an amicable solution to the row.

When asked why he did not pay the required fee when he was issued with a letter of offer, Muhsin said he did not have the money at the time.

The commission is conducting hearings on review of grants and disposition of public land in the county.

Ms Mukolwe was accompanied by commissioners Rose Musyoka, Silas Kinoti and County Executive for Land Francis Thoya among other officials. Mr Kinoti wondered how Muhsin acquired a title deed for the land without a ground status report.

"I am a surveyor by profession and there is no way you can be issued with a title deed without a ground report indicating the land is vacant. You have not told us who your surveyor or agent are," Kinoti observed.

Meanwhile, property worth Sh15 million was yesterday destroyed in an early dawn fire at Sparki. The fire destroyed the Maximum Miracle Centre Church and two timber yards.

Police said no one was injured in the inferno, whose cause is not known.