The burden of being non-citizens keeps on crushing the stateless communities in Kwale as they clamour for citizenship.
In Kwale, most stateless people are found in Vanga, Shimoni, Gazi, Mangwei, among other areas of Msambweni and Lunga Lunga subcounties.
Without citizenship, the stateless have no legal protection, right to property and cannot access government services like registration of birth, death or marriage certificates.
They also cannot access proper healthcare services, education and formal employment opportunities or get bank loans.
One such group is the Pembas, who arrived from Tanzania in the 1930s and in a second wave in the 1960s.
Many earn their living through fishing, but their statelessness means they cannot get fishing licences or loans to buy boats and must fish close to shore where the catch is meagre.
Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa have about 7,800 Pemba community members, but according to community chairman Shaame Hamisi, they could be up to 100,000.
In 2017, the Makondes and Hindus were declared the 43rd and 44th tribes respectively after a long wait of looking for citizenship. The latest group to be recognised as Kenyans are the Shonas. On Jamhuri Day this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta named the Shonas the 45th tribe in Kenya.
However, not all group members of the Makonde community were registered, some are still stateless in 2017. At the time, 1,176 Makondes were issued with Kenyan identity cards.
But those who did not get the vital document are still crying to the government to recognise them as citizens. The Makondes originated from Mozambique.
Kenya Makonde chairperson Thomas Nguli said unrecognised groups have become the centre of attraction for tycoons and individuals who take advantage of their vulnerabilities to deprive them of their rights.
He said one of their biggest problems involves land.
“The issue of land to the stateless is heartbreaking, we have been here for so long but each day people come with title deeds, saying they are the owners,” he said.
Hamisi said they have always lived in fear of eviction as private developers claim ownership of their ancestral lands, and they are unable to defend themselves due to lack of documentation.
Hamisi said people have been reaching out to them posing as officers from the Registrar of Persons or rights organisations only for them to realise later they were conmen.
“They take advantage of our desperate situation knowing that when they ask for anything, they will be given,” he said.
Sada Makame, 51, said since they cannot access M-Pesa or bank services, she uses neighbours' details. Sometimes, others disappear with the money.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission said that when Covid-19 struck in March, the stateless were the hardest hit.
KHRC programme manager Diana Gichengo said this group of people could not be registered in food relief programmes because it targeted locals with ID cards.
She also said they are also frequently arrested because they have nothing to prove they are Kenyans.