Gede Mitangani Community Receive Community Land Title
Gede Mitangani community of Kilifi County received their community land title on 29th September 2026. President William Ruto handed over the title in Kilifi under the government’s Coast land titling programme before senior national and county leaders.
The title ends a wait that dates back to independence. “For years we only read about this document in the newspapers without ever touching it or seeing it,” said Robert Karisa, chairperson of Gede Mitangani Community Land Management Committee. “It is pure joy, the greatest we have known since Kenya gained independence.”
The milestone is a proud moment for CLAN!. Gede Mitangani is the first of the communities supported by Taita Resources Community Centre (TARCC), a CLAN! Implementing partner, to receive a title. It is an outcome of Securing Registered Title to Our Lands project which is supported by The Tenure Facility.
History of Gede Mitangani community land
The land now registered as Gede Mitangani was once known as Kilifi Ranch. The former Kilifi District Development Committee approved it as a ranch but the officials who applied for it never completed the process. The land remained unregistered for decades and that gap attracted people who wanted it for themselves.
Families who had lived and grazed livestock there for generations were left as squatters on their own land. “Since Kenya gained independence over 63 years ago, the Gede community has lived as squatters,” said John Wariyo, Assistant Chief of Gede Sub-Location. “At some point, wealthy grabbers seized our land.”
The turning point came with the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and the Community Land Act of 2016, which recognize community land and give communities a clear legal path to register it. Elders began visiting government offices and their search confirmed that the old ranch had never been registered. Residents contributed money to follow up with the county government, and in May 2023 the Ministry of Lands published an adjudication programme for Gede-Mitangani in the Kenya Gazette.
The community also chose a new name. Kilifi Ranch carried memories of those who had tried to grab the land, so residents joined the names of Gede Sub-Location and Mitangani Location. The name, explained by Stephen Thete, Chief of Mitangani Location, belongs to no single leader but to everyone who lives there.
The process was difficult. Tension over grazing land along the Kilifi and Kwale county boundary led to clashes in late 2023, and members of the Community Land Management Committee were taken to court. Chief Thete counts seven cases over boundaries and competing claims. “All the cases required a title deed, and it has now been obtained,” he said.
How CLAN! worked with Gede Community
By 2023, the community had pushed as far as it could on its own resources. “Our capability fell short,” recalled Assistant Chief Wariyo. “But CLAN! came and held our hands. Today, Gede is born anew.”
CLAN! supported Gede Mitangani through TARCC who worked side by side with the community, the local administration and the CLMC to carry the registration through to the end. “It is a historic day,” said Paul Olinga, TARCC’s coordinator. “Among all the communities we work with, this is the first to get a title.”
For CLAN!, it is an achievement. “The first time we came to Bamba, we saw faces that had no hope,” said Paul Lekapana, who represented CLAN! “But you had the desire to own your land, and today we congratulate you.” He was accompanied by some members of the steering committee, implementing partners and members of secretariat.
This is part of the Securing Registered Title to Our Lands project, which CLAN! leads with support from the Tenure Facility. The project helps communities raise awareness, map their land, build the capacity to register it and strengthen the institutions that will govern it afterwards. CLAN! extends its sincere thanks to the Tenure Facility for standing with Kenyan communities through this long and demanding process.
Part of a wider push on land titling in Coast region
Gede Mitangani title was issued during President Ruto’s eight-day development tour of the Coast, covering Taita Taveta, Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa, Tana River and Lamu. In Kilifi County alone, 36,826 title deeds were lined up for residents of Kaloleni, Rabai, Ganze, Kilifi South and Malindi constituencies.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Ruto described the titles as part of the government’s answer to a land question that has fuelled conflict, poverty and underdevelopment across the region. He committed to reaching the remaining areas, as part of a wider plan to issue 500,000 land ownership documents at the Coast.
Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome said the communities receiving titles had every right to them and had waited a long time. She urged residents to drop minor court cases over the land and resolve such issues with their leaders.
For community land, the picture shows how much remains to be done. A 2026 assessment by National Land Commission puts the share registered so far at about 15%. Each new community title, Gede Mitangani’s included, shows that the Community Land Act can deliver even where land has been contested for generations.
With the title secured, the work of governing the community land begins. The community through its elected CLMC and its community assembly now carries the responsibility of managing the land fairly for all its members. TARCC and CLAN! will keep working with the committee, the local chiefs and community leaders on land use planning, by-laws and inclusive decision-making with particular attention to the voices of women and young people. “We want Gede Mitangani to become a model for community land governance,” said Olinga.
Lekapana stressed the need for a clear plan, so that the land serves future generations and is not lost to short-term sales. Registered communities understand their boundaries better, settle internal disputes more effectively and negotiate with investors from a stronger position. Assistant Chief Wariyo pledged the community’s full cooperation as it plans how the land will be used.
Gede Mitangani’s title came from joint efforts. “This is the fruit of the community, CLAN!, TARCC and the government working together,” said Philip Koyei, CLAN! Coordinator. “Now that all those arms have joined together, the fruits have been realized.” CLAN! thanks the national government, the County Government of Kilifi and the local administration for their cooperation throughout the process. CLAN! is working with over 50 communities through community land registration and they face similar obstacles: slow action by some county governments, disputes within communities and pressure from brokers who profit when land stays unregistered.
The State Department for Lands has opened public participation on Community Land Mass Registration Masterplan for 2026 to 2031, and CLAN! encourages its members and partners to take part. We also call on development partners to invest in the long, patient work that community land registration demands.
Congratulations CLAN, TARC & TF for the support to Gede Community to secure their community land Title.
A great job well done.thank you and congratulations all together.
I stand to advocate, create awareness and do everything I can to let others know on the importance of land registration and protection.