This archive report was first published on 31 October 2019.
On October 31, 2019, a contentious land dispute in Mazeras Township, Kilifi County, escalated into a dramatic showdown as a bulldozer flattened properties worth millions of shillings.
The demolition, supervised by a contingent of anti-riot police from Rabai Police Station, targeted family residences, rental houses, and business stalls.
The dispute, which has been listed for hearing before the Environmental and Land Judge at the Mombasa Law Court, pits the family of late Mohamed Kalume against local businessman Joseph Kithuku Muki Kitonga.
A widow, Sofia Kalume Nori, who was present during the demolition, expressed shock and outrage, claiming that the family had not been served with a copy of the court order and that the demolitions were carried out before the hearing of the case began.
'To make matters worse, the family was ambushed in the presence of anti-riot police officers,' she said, adding that the disputed parcel is their ancestral land.
She described the move to demolish their structures without notice as 'barbaric and inhuman,' and expressed her inability to establish Muki's motive behind the land saga.
