As March 19 draws near by the day, residents of Nguu Tatu in the Kisauni subcounty are growing increasingly anxious.
It is the day a verdict is expected to be delivered in a court case pitting the residents against two private developers over a 430-acre piece of land.
On one hand, Bandari Sacco, which has fenced off 60 acres from the 430-acre parcel, claims ownership of the land while on another, a son of a deceased tycoon also lays claim to the rest of the land.
The residents also say they are the rightful owners of the land having lived on it for more than 40 years.
Last Thursday, the residents staged yet another protest in a familiar tale of land disputes in Mombasa.
However, this time, the residents have called for a fair ruling saying their lives depend on it.
About 3,500 families are living on the 430-acre piece of land.
Bandari Sacco says they bought the 60-acre piece of land from Hussein Dairy Farm in 2011 at Sh300 million and used another Sh30 million to fence it off amid frequent protests and clashes with the squatters.
The residents say they are being intimidated out of "their ancestral land" and are now tired of being harassed frequently.
John Mwangala, one of the residents, said he has lived in Nguu Tatu since 2010.
He however said he has not lived in peace ever since because of demolitions and threats of demolitions.
“We know this land was in the name of a white man whose lease from 1908 ended in 2008. We have gone to court over the same,” Mwangala said.
In 2017, Bandari Sacco also appeared claiming they bought their piece of land from the previous owner, Hussein Dairy Farm.
“We are asking our President William Ruto to intervene so we can get our land. We had last-mile connectivity that was done by the World Bank and we had electricity here. We also had piped water. But these were cut off in clashes between us and groups hired by those who want to take the land,” Mwangala said.
Bandari Sacco officials including chair Kenneth Sunguh and CEO Joseph Bee said they have all the documents regarding the 60-acre piece.
The two said the squatters living on the property were not genuine.
“Hired hooligans have damaged our land, some purporting to be squatters, while we know most of them are hired just to do this kind of damage,” Sungu said.
“This land was acquired by Bandari Sacco in 2011 through the sweat of its members. We spent about Sh30 million fencing it,” Sungu said.
Bee said the courts had allowed Bandari Sacco to put up the perimeter wall around the disputed land.
Bandari contracted Henpoint Kenya Limited to put up the wall.
The residents said their children have to travel long distances to schools because a school that had been constructed on the land was razed in one of the clashes between the squatters and hired goons.
The violent clashes have seen death and maiming among the squatters.
Martha Obora said she got her grandchildren while living on the land.
She claimed they have been fighting tycoons who use their financial influence to try and force them out of the land.
“We have been shot at, we have been teargassed, we have been killed and we have been maimed,” Obora said.
She said some of their neighbours now live on the streets because of the constant demolition of their houses.
Cornelius Deche said they hope there will be a fair judgment on March 19.
“We know we have a working Judiciary and we ask that they be fair and neutrally dispense with justice,” Deche said.
Nguu Tatu village elder Fikirini Juma said the squatters have no means to rent houses apart from Nguu Tatu.
He said they are now at the mercy of the courts.
“We ask President Ruto to help us get titles to this land here so we can stop being harassed by those with means.
“We are up against people with money and guns. We have God and you, our President. Help us,” Juma said.