Lamu County leaders have stormed out of a meeting that was to deliberate on land acquisition for the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor project after disagreements arose. The meeting was attended by Petroleum Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau and brought together officials from the Lapsset Corridor Development Authority, the National Land Commission (NLC), the Ministry of Land, Ministry of Petroleum and the county government. It was taking place at the Majlis Hotel in Shella.
The meeting ended prematurely after Governor Fahim Twaha, MPs Stanley Muthama (Lamu West), Athman Sharif (Lamu East), Lamu Woman Rep Ruweida Obbo and MCAs stormed out citing failure by the national government, through the Lapsset Corridor Development Authority and the NLC, to listen and address the grievances of the locals concerning the land acquired for the project. NLC has already allocated 70,000 acres of land to the Lapsset Corridor in Kililana and Mashunduani.
The land is meant to set up the already ongoing new Lamu port as well as other projects including the Sh200 billion coal-fired power plant in Kwasasi, the Lamu-Lokichar crude oil pipeline, a railway line and other Lapsset components. The leaders expressed disappointment over the move by the NLC to allocate a huge parcel of Lamu land to the Lapsset Corridor Development Authority without even compensating those who were settled there.
Governor Twaha asked the Lapsset board and managers, the NLC and all the stakeholders concerned to come to Lamu and hold fresh talks with locals and leaders in order to iron out differences on the land issue. Lamu East MP Athman Sharif called on the government to ensure that any resident whose land is acquired for national government projects is compensated in cash instead of being given alternative land. Woman Rep Ruweida Obbo challenged the NLC to withdraw the title deed issued to the Lapsset Corridor Development Authority for the 70,000 acres of Lamu land.
[Article source: The Daily Nation, by Kalume Kazungu]
