Land is a critical factor of production and is therefore at the center of contemporary discourse on human rights in Africa. This explicitly means that land is the key to containing poverty and maintenance of sustainable livelihood systems in the third word. Access to land is regarded as a fundamental human right.

Period before 1980
The period leading up to the declaration of protectorate status over East Africa on August 15, 1895 is critical since its  during this period that indigenous communities (mainly the Mijikenda) were driven out of their ancestral land by Arabs invaders. These were either seeking to establish permanent settlements as a way of consolidating trade with Asia and Middle East or looking for slaves.

 

In 1886 when British and German governments established the Mwambao and ceded control over it to the sultanate of Zanzibar the assumption was that the sultan’s subjects within this ten mile coastal strip would retain rights to land vested in the IBEA Co. and later the British imperial government within Mwambao were restricted to waste and unoccupied land. The 1895 declaration law, the indigenous communities within the Mwambao were unknown to them already regarded as landless.

Period up to 1908
This period the British council authorities in their quest to establish the full extent of land accorded to `private’ ownership passed an ordinance for the adjudication of claims within Mwambao.

The land titles ordinance provided that:
17 (1) all land situated in any district, area or place to which this Act  has been applied concerning which no claim …… of ownership has been  made ……. Shall at the expiry of the period provided (six months)  be deemed to be crown land and the land and all things attached ……. Shall be subjected to a right or interest ……. evidenced by a certificate of title.

17 (12) …… Every certificate of title duly authorized under the hand and seal of the recorder of titles shall be conclusive evidence against all persons (including government) of several matters therein contained …… that the person to whom the certificate is granted is the owner of the coconut trees, house an buildings of the land…...

This ordinance was applied to Malindi, Lamu, and Tana River District By 1975 this ordinance had been applied to the whole Mwambao. In the process of adjudication only the claims lodged before 1922 were accepted by the recorder in a process that dragged on up to 1975. Many of these were reportedly fraudulent, undocumented and unverified. As a result 95% of all land within Mwambao was recorded in the name of Arabs immigrants; the remaining 5% being declared crown land for lack of claims. In what is now Lamu District, claims were lodged only in respect of the island-the whole mainland was declared crown land.

Period up to 1963
In this period leading up to the independence of the Kenyan republic, the final nail was driven in the coffin of the indigenous coastal communities as far as land ownership was concerned. The colonial government in 1926 deliberately ensured that ``native resources’’ in this part of the country were delineated `outside’ Mwambao except some (thirteen) pockets of land in what is now Kwale district.
The independence constitution confirmed and satisfied all land rights (regardless of how the land was acquired) before the 1st June 1963 thus giving legitimacy to a fraudulent, coercive, deceitful and clearly unjust process of expropriation.

After independence the government of Kenya have perpetuated the status quo and subsequently turned a deaf ear to the dissenting voice of the indigenous people who have been rendered landless. The landlessness of the indigenous communities of the Coast Province in mainly to blame for the rampant poverty therein. The already bad situation was further worsened when after independence hectares and hectares of land were leased out to investors with ridiculous grants (ninety nine year) at equally ridiculous rates for instance Krystaline Salt Company pays Kshs. 14 per acre per year!