Lamu Senator calls for review of lands earmarked for mega projects, vows to unearth cartels

Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip has called for the immediate review and audit of all lands allocated to mega national projects in the county.

Anwar speaking in Lamu on Sunday, just two days after his election was upheld by the Supreme Court, announced that he has launched a personal war against all land-grabbing syndicates in the region.

He said he was determined to unearth an elaborate land-grabbing scheme where locals have been conned off their lands under the guise that they were being set aside for mega projects when actually they were going straight into the hands of tycoons.

The senator said, as a result, many residents have been rendered squatters after they were evicted from their own ancestral lands by the tycoons who have fake title deeds.

He pledged to have an independent body formed to audit all lands and ensure all queries are sorted out for the benefit of the public.

The senator cited the 975 acres set aside for the establishment of the Sh200 billion Coal-fired Power Plant at Kwasasi in Hindi Division and the 3,206 acres set aside for the establishment of a Sh21 billion Wind Power Plant at Baharini Village in Mpeketoni.

Others were the lands bordering the Sh2.5 trillion Lapsset project in Kililana and Mashunduani villages as well as the Swahili Schemes, which are all in Lamu West as lands that required fresh review and auditing.

Anwar accused local administrators mainly chiefs and Nyumba Kumi elders for being notorious propagators of land grabbing in Lamu.

Read: Resolve Lamu land disputes to end our agony – squatters

“Land remains one of the major challenges facing locals here and unfortunately most leaders don’t want to do anything about it. We appreciate the fact that these multi-billion projects are intended to transform Lamu economically but we won’t also allow them to dupe locals,” Anwar said.

Back in 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the revocation of 350,000 acres of land that had been irregularly acquired in Lamu.

The lands were subsequently handed back to the county government for administration.

However, it is alleged that the lands were immediately reposed by the moneyed tycoons whom they had been taken from.

Anwar now wants the National Lands Commission (NLC) to come out and explain the true ownership status of the lands.

“Nobody is saying anything on whether the lands even still exist or whether they were repossessed. Such lands could be used to resettle squatters. The NLC should give us the answers we seek,” Anwar said.

He wondered why the NLC was not making any effort to ensure all landowners in Lamu acquire title deeds which he said would provide security against grabbers.

Lamu county continues to face massive historical land issues top among them being land grabbing as over 60 per cent of lands are yet to be surveyed and owners issued with title deeds.