Marginalisation of Lamu people

There is a widespread rumour in Lamu District, and the rest of the Coast, that the Government is in the process of buying land (for example ranches such as the Amu Ranch) in order to settle some of the 2008 IDPs presently in up-country. Government here could be Ministry of Special Programmes, Land Ministry, or the Coast Development Authority. In the absence of any information from Government, this rumour will be widely believed and is likely to cause serious anxiety and tension not only in Lamu but the whole Coast. We are therefore asking the Government to urgently issue a statement on this matter – whether there is such a project on-going now or planned in the future; or there is no such project. Failing to do so will encourage people to believe the rumours as actual facts. And the implication of this will be to increase the already existing tension and confirm to Lamu people’s existing belief that the Government does not care about them and treats them at best as second class citizens and at worst, as non-Kenyans with no rights whatsoever.

The continuous silence by the Government will be seen as a Government cover-up of an underhand process of secretly transferring to Lamu poor landless peasants and IDPs from the Central Province.

If the Government itself is not sending IDPs to Lamu, there are however private sector people who are believed to be doing exactly this - encouraging and helping poor peasants and IDPs from Central Province to come to Lamu with the promise of providing them with land. It is believed that there is a network of individuals in Mpeketoni and in Central province who encourage and facilitate the movement of such people to Lamu District where they are then directed to land belonging to Lamu people and encouraged to start farming as trespassers. Apparently the poor peasants and IDPs pay leaders of the network at both ends. There is a daily bus service between Mpeketoni and Nairobi and Nyeri which facilitates this in migration to Lamu District. Consequently, the population of Lamu has increased dramatically by 18% between 1999 and 2009. This figure conceals the continuing in-migration from up-country and out-migration of the economically active Swahili population. Thus unlike the situation experienced by other minority communities in Kenya, economic marginalization for the Lamu Swahili is also translating into their demographic marginalization within their home region.

This process of encouraging and directed migration is done openly and the Government (Provincial Administration, etc) pretends ignorance of what is going on. Given the fact that key positions in the Provincial Administrations have been occupied mainly by officers from outside the Coast, it is quiet easy for Lamu people to believe that the rumour is factual - that is tantamount to Government officials encouraging this migration; if not directly helping the process.

This large scale settlement of people from the Central Province to Lamu District by private individuals (who at the same time gain financially) has generated, and continues to generate, more than simply rising tension. It has already caused actual violence between trespassers and landowners.

DESTRUCTION OF WITU FOREST

There is also the issue of the Witu Forest which is being deforested/destroyed by these new migrants in full knowledge of officials as well as Wangari Mathaai’s Green Belt Movement. No action is being taken by the government or by environmental organizations to stop this destruction. Compare this silence to the sound and fury over the Mau forest.

IMPACT OF PRESENT AND PAST POLICIES

The question of large scale in-migration aimed at illegally taking land belonging to Lamu people is very serious for Lamu people. Here are some of the implications.

1. At independence the entire land in Lamu District was taken over by Government and became Government land – except for land whose owners had title deeds issued during the colonial period. And there were very few of these. Unlike the rest of Kenya, Lamu District has no Trust or Community Land. On what basis were Lamu people denied ownership of their Community Land?

2. The first IDPs in Kenya were the Bajunis, who were driven out from their homes by the Shifta, in 1963. These Bajun IDPs have never been recognized by the Government until today and they cannot go back to their original land. The IDPs have dispersed all over the East African Coast. They want to go back to their land.

3. Since the 1970s, four major settlement schemes have been created in Lamu. Most of the land in these schemes is now owned by people from up-country – mainly from Central Province. Some of these schemes have been created on land owned by Lamu people who have not been compensated until now. In fact all their complaints are met with silence.

4. Most Lamu people who own land do not have documents – acquiring Letters of Allotment and Title Deed is very difficult and only the rich are able to acquire such documents. The majority of Lamu people are either landless or are on their ancestral land but have no documents.

5. Recently the Government confirmed a major project to build a Port in Lamu with a transport corridor linking it to South Sudan and Ethiopia. Lamu people have not been given any information about this development, nor have they been involved in its planning. The negative implications and impact of this port project on Lamu people are enormous – their maritime economy and environment will be destroyed, all their land will be taken by outsiders, their culture will disappear, and Lamu as a people are likely to eventually also disappear.

FEARS OF LAMU PEOPLE

Given what is happening in Lamu District, mainly as a result of Government policies, it is not surprising that Lamu people are suspicious and bitter; and serious tension is rising. Lamu people are frustrated and angry; their deep-seated fear is that:

(a) Their land is being illegally taken away from them by people from other parts of the country

(b) Their environment will be destroyed

(c) Their fishing industry will be disrupted

(d) All jobs connected with the Port will be given to outsiders

(e) The on-going and continuous in-migration of outsiders into Lamu District will be intensified and this will marginalize them demographically – they will become a minority which will eventually disappear with its unique culture.

In other words, they will literally get nothing and lose everything from this massive multi-billion project on their land.

DEMANDS OF LAMU PEOPLE

The demands of Lamu people are very simple:

(i) The Government should resettle and compensate the 1963 Bajuni IDPs on their original land which is controlled by the Government

(ii) The Government should stop the organized in-migration of poor peasants and IDPs into Lamu county

(iii) Government should initiate programmes for the restoration of the Witu forest, with the same passion and zeal that they have exercised in the Mau forest.

(iv) Government should repossess all the land that has been illegally acquired in Lamu and give it to the County for distribution to Lamu people

(v) Lamu people want to be consulted, and be allowed to participate in decisions, with regards to land allocation and the Port project

(vi) Lamu people should to be allocated a percentage of the income from the Port

(vii) They should be ensured a specific percentage of jobs in the various sectors of the Port and a training programme for them should start now

(viii) Government should put a stop to the ongoing destruction of the Witu Forest, by arresting all the invaders; and bring to account government officers who have allowed the continuous deforestation of the Forest

(ix) The long-term effects of all these organized injustices on the Lamu and Coastal people need to be recognized and compensated.

The Lamu people are seriously requesting that the Government should change its policies and attitude towards Lamu and its people. Failing to seriously recognize the negative impact of its policies, and failing to consider the demand of Lamu and coast people in general, tension will increase to a point which might lead to disastrous consequences for the Port project and all concerned.

We are therefore asking the government to seriously consider the issues above and to take the appropriate decisive action ASAP, so that Lamu people should not feel marginalized and betrayed by the government.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Professor Abdalla Bujra is executive director of Development Policy Management Forum (DPMF). He has a B A Honours in African Studies (Nairobi) and a PhD in Social Anthropology (SOAS, London).
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.