At least 3000 residents of Msambweni Voi, Taita Taveta County are staring at a possible eviction from the piece of land they have been living in for years by a private developer.
For more than ten years, the residents and Sparkle Properties Limited, a company that claims ownership of the piece of land have been in court with each party claiming ownership.
The residents have been claiming that the fifty-four acres piece of land is their ancestral land which they have lived in since 1938.
On the other hand, Sparkle Properties Limited says it bought the property from Bata Shoe Company intending to develop it.
Consequently, Sparkle properties limited filed a suit in the Environment and land in Mombasa seeking to evict the residents who have been settling at the Plot L.R NO. 1956/506 to pave way for development.
Sparkle Properties Limited general manager Francis Mulili says they won court cases several times adding that already the residents have been served with the eviction order.
Juma Mwamboga, a resident in the area, cautioned those interfering with the negotiation process between the two parties which is aimed at settling the dispute.
Juma says several meetings have been called by the land owner but allegedly politicians have been iciting the residents not to meet the investor.
Sparkle property limited directors warned that the eviction order still stands and will be effected soon.
