Police have arrested Sabaki MCA Edward Delle and 40 others over the Sunday invasion of the 900-acre Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) land Kisiwani, Kilifi County.
The MCA was arrested together with his team on Tuesday morning at Kwa Ndomo in Sabaki ward where they had gathered to discuss way forward over the government owned land.
Following the arrests, police had to shoot in the air to disperse a rowdy crowd that held a protest demanding the suspects’ release.
Efforts by the Kilifi County Assembly Speaker Jimmy Kahindi who went to the station in the company of about 10 MCAs in bid to secure their release failed.
On Sunday, at least 300 squatters invaded the land in Kisiwani and sub-divided it for themselves.
Led by Mr Delle, the squatters resolved to repossess their ancestral land from ‘tycoons’ who they said colluded with the ADC ranch management to grab the land.
“Today marks the end of our tribulations, we are sharing the land since efforts to seek the intervention from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), National Land Commission, the Director of Public prosecution (DPP) has fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
The Malindi Water and Sewerage Company (Mawasco) has already bought 25 acres of the land at Sh40 million to construct housing pension scheme for company staff and county government.
Mawasco managing director Gerald Mwambire Monday dismissed the claims that he is one of the people behind a scheme to grab ADC land, saying they acquired the land legally.
Mr Mwambire later showed some documents indicating the firm was cleared by the NLC’s former chairman Muhammad Swazuri on October 2, 2014 to acquire the land from Teber Limited.