Sunday, August 10, 2014
Lamu, Kenya: The blame-game between the Jubilee government and Opposition over who issued title deeds to the controversial parcels of land in Lamu County has done little to unravel the motive behind the violence that rocked the county nearly two months ago.
Neither has the debate - sparked off last week when President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that he had revoked title deeds to some 500,000 acres of land in Lamu - unmasked the faces of the men behind the attacks and their financiers.
Ninety-four people—all, except one, men,— were killed in a series of audacious attacks in June, starting with Mpeketoni where the assailants claimed 60 lives in their first attack.
The victims were shot at close range and their throats slit with knives by a killer gang that prowled the countryside of Lamu County for more than one month.
Although Somalia’s al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attacks, the Government pointed an accusing finger at the Opposition and unnamed “local political networks” for the chaos. “What is going on makes little sense,” said Daisy Mbinya, whose fiancé was killed by the attackers. “I want to ask on his behalf: Are they the ones who killed him? If yes, why haven’t they been charged?” she asked.
Last week, during a visit to State House by a delegation from Lamu County, President Kenyatta announced that the Government would repossess huge tracts of land in Lamu allegedly acquired fraudulently. However, the Government is yet to tell the public if there are links between the owners of the ranches and the violence.
High-profile owners
Mahadi Swaleh Mahadi, whose extended family owns a huge piece of land in Witu, is the only the only high-profile landowner charged in connection with the violence.
The Government is yet to formally charge Lamu County Governor Issa Timamy although state prosecutors told the High Court in Mombasa that it would prefer charges of murder, forcible transfer of population and terrorism against him.
In any case, Mr Timamy has said he does not own tracts of lands in Lamu and was not among those mentioned as directors of the 22 companies the Government claims stole land. “Two people cannot possibly be a network. So who are the other members of this network? The Government has a long way to go before it can solidly prove its case before the eyes of the public,” said independent security consultant Richard Tuta. So far, none of the alleged owners of the parcels of land have been asked to record statements over their alleged role in the violence.
However, they have been asked by Director of Criminal Investigations, Ndegwa Muhoro, to record statements on how they acquired their title deeds. “We have heard rumours that some people in this list were responsible for the violence. Then why are they not in court by now?” asked Johnson Kolani, a political activist in Lamu.
The raging blame-game between the Opposition and the Government over who issued title deeds for the ranches has overshadowed efforts to find out the faces behind the attacks.
For the past one week since the President released the names of the companies in question, the Government and the Opposition have been engaged in blame-game over who is responsible for the alleged irregular allocations. A senior CID officer involved in the investigations on how the land was allocated and who requested to speak freely on the background, had a dim view of the government’s efforts to recover the land. “Land was allocated by the government to people it knows very well through a process known very well. In my view, this whole thing is purely academic, political and will achieve little,” he said.
The President said the land in question was allocated over the past two years when a moratorium on land transactions was in place in Lamu County.
Listed ranches
However, some residents of Lamu said some ranches in the list were established as far back as the 1970s and therefore do not fit the President’s criteria. Some of these ranches include Amu Ranch and Witu-Nyongoro Ranch. The locals said these ranches were formed and are owned by community organisations based there.
The President indicated that the land in question is where some 28 berths for the proposed Lamu Port would be based. However, other ranches named as having been acquired irregularly by their owners lie deep in the countryside.
Lamu County Women Representative Shakila Abdalla expressed fears that local communities might be further dispossessed of their land should the government take over some of the ranches. “What other agenda does the government have when it designates land that has been in the hands of the local community for years as grabbed land?” she asked.
Mr Timamy acknowledged that local leaders should have been involved in the revocation exercise and said he hoped that the land would revert to the Lamu County government.
Others have said that land ownership should not be criminalised. “Let me state from the outset that is not a crime to own any amount of land in any part of the country so long as it is done through the legal process. The onus is on the State to prove this,” said an official of the National Land Commission.
On the ground in Lamu, little has emerged about the progress of the security operation since the military moved in to bolster the efforts of the police that were clearly overwhelmed by the well armed raiders.
There have been no reports of the attackers being captured or killed in the operation. Similarly, there have been no reports of new suspects being taken to court to stand trial. The government has not formally stated whether it has made more arrests although a number of residents claimed that their kinsmen were apprehended by police in connection with the violence.
Abdullahi Sawen, a resident of Ngumu village which is near Gamba police post, said that a relative, Adhan Abdi Osman, was arrested on Friday while herding cattle in Kipini and bundled into a police lorry that had no number plates.
He said police also arrested another neighbour, Osman Abdi Mohammed, mid last month for questioning and his whereabouts are still unknown.
“As a community, we have come to a conclusion that he was killed and his body dumped somewhere. But why can’t they be taken to court so that the due process can be followed? It is very hurting and troubling when we lose our young men at the hands of the State,” he said.
He is worried that the same fate that might have befallen Mohammed might befall Osman and called on the police to have him charged in court.