Tuesday, January 10, 2012

TJRC Coast public hearings begin in Lamu




Written By:KNA,    Posted: Mon, Jan 09, 2012
The hearings continue
The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission began its coastal region public hearings at Mkunguni Fort Lamu Monday  with Acting Chair Tecla Wanjala presiding, accompanied by Commissioners Berhanu Dinka, Ahmed Farah and Judge Gertrude Chawatama.
The panel received memoranda from various local communities citing historical injustices and  human rights violations around irregular and illegal acquisition of land, marginalization , serious injury and gender based violence.
On behalf of the Lamu residents, Mr. Hussein Said El Almany presented a memorandum on land injustices they faced.
"Political and economic elite are the only ones with access to land rights in Lamu while locals, some of whom have lived here since pre independence don't enjoy land rights. This has led to vulnerability; land is the highest cause of inherited poverty here and Lamu is among the poorest counties in the country. The government allows foreign investors to develop investments, the Ministry of Lands issues them with title deeds while community members have been denied rights to the government gazette reserves despite having lived there for a long time," Mr. Said asserted.
He said the state misused its power to gain land without consultation with or compensation for locals and that fish landing areas had been grabbed by influential politicians on Manda and Tenewi .
Mr.  Said  testified that the abuse of land rights happened on the pretext of reserving land for public use citing Magogoni meant for the construction of the Lamu port.
He said ‘non indigenous Kenyans' had been settled there and locals were jittery over the urgency of government plans to build the port without consulting   or presenting them with impact assessment reports before the project begun.
"We ask and hope that the TJRC will help stop perpetual abuse of our rights in Lamu and prevent intimidation of locals by powerful leaders.
"We are not against the construction of the Lamu port but government should engage locals to stop conflict with traditional trades such as the mangrove timber trade and dhows which are used for fishing," Mr. Said recommended.
Sheikh Dirow Hirsi presented a memorandum on behalf of minority communities in Lamu.
Sheikh Hirsi decried open marginalization of Lamu and urged affirmative action especially for the numerically smaller  groups of people.
"The government should employ affirmative action in civil service, education n other sectors for Lamu residents .Lamu is home to many minority communities not recorded as part of the 44 communities in Kenya for example the Monyo Yahya of Tana River who were not accessed  in the census because they are in a remote area. They migrated into Kenya before other recognized communities and their land was forcefully turned into Kora national park without compensation," he pointed out.
Ali Gubo Baldo  testified on behalf of the Boni and Banjuni communities, and termed  marginalization a time bomb.
"My bitterness reflects that of the communities who have suffered government marginalization. We don't have roads, water, land and education. We have also suffered beatings by military, Kenya Wildlife Service rangers and General Service Unit during operations. We don't have title deeds. Our government doesn't know us yet we are Kenyans," Mr. Baldo lamented.
"Lack of title deeds has denied us loan collateral to educate our children hence there is continued poverty. We are very bitter and the minority and marginalized community will one day hit back," he warned.
The hearings continue.

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