CORD tells State to stop blame game over Lamu land problem

An Aerial view of the section for the construction of the New Lamu Port at Kilalani area in Lamu County. [PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD]

Kenya: Investigations into what could be Kenya’s biggest land scam since independence began yesterday as the matter threatened to balloon into a new political row between President Uhuru Kenyatta and CORD leader Raila Odinga.

The sheer magnitude of the corruption involved came to light a day after President Kenyatta ordered revocation of titles to parcels of land adding up to nearly 500,000 acres when it emerged the Government did not have records for 11 of the 22 beneficiary firms.

This suggested they were not registered, raising queries how mere names acquired title deeds. Details released yesterday, show some of the firms have not filed returns since incorporation, while others share names. This was a bizarre coincidence because the registrar of companies does not register firms with similar names.

The scam took place in the last days of President Kibaki’s administration between 2011 and 2012, when Siaya Senator James Orengo was Lands minister. There were claims that top officials in the grand coalition government – could have been involved in acquiring land equivalent to 70 per cent of Lamu County. The President said the acquisition was for speculative purposes as the land falls along the Lapsset project corridor.

Lapsset is one of the major Vision 2030 flagship projects, expected to transform Kenya into a middle income economy in the next 16 years.

Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu said from an audit report, land set aside for the special economic zone in Lamu was also allocated to private companies with some sections listed as ranches purportedly owned by farmers and pastoralists’ cooperative societies.

Documents

“We have in our possession survey documents of 18 pieces of land each covering an area of 500 acres within the special economic zone. We also found out that 13 of the 21 berths for the Lamu Port have been allocated to land grabbers,” she added. Some companies were registered towards the end of 2011 and in 2012, just months before they acquired the massive land.

But as the investigations began, some CORD MPs claimed it was a gimmick to divert attention and blame Mr Orengo for historical injustices at the Coast.

CORD luminaries the former Prime Minister, former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula issued a statement criticising the President for acknowledging the need for land reforms, but blaming his predecessor.

“CORD wishes to state that blaming the predecessor is not what people are looking for in their President. It is not going to resonate for long, if it does at all,” they said. “Kenyans are looking for somebody who is not blaming somebody but one who is going to solve their problems. Now, it’s the President, who comes from a family that is a major land owner and publicly accused of acquiring most of it illegally, that has started canceling titles of allegedly illegally acquired land.”

But the CORD leaders also saw the President’s move as a victory on referendum calls, which have included demands for land reforms. “As Opposition, we are pleased that overall, the referendum call is bearing fruit even before it begins. The Government has now accepted that land is at the centre of the chaos in Lamu and Coast in general as we said before and after the elections.”

They also asked the President to implement the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission and Ndung’u Commission reports.

But the Director of public communication at State House, Munyori Buku, said: “Raila should stop speaking from both sides of his mouth. During the second presidential debate last year, he made a wild allegation over land against Kenyatta. The President looked him straight in the eye and asked him to name one single issue.... He had none.”

He added: “A few weeks ago, Raila said land issues were behind the insecurity in Lamu. Why should he turn around when a solution has been found. The scheme behind the Lamu Port corridor land grab is clear: greedy fellows had planned to reap where they have not sown.”

Speaking at the burial of former Vice Chairman of the Luo Council of Elders John Omollo Anditi in Rusinga Island, Mbita Constituency in Homa Bay County, Raila said President Kenyatta had violated the Constitution by ordering the revocation of the title deeds. He said the responsibility of issuing land title deeds and revoking them was the mandate of NLC.

“Land is a very sensitive matter which should be handled with a lot of care and that is why the NLC was formed. But it is unfortunate the President is now using the Lands Cabinet Secretary to solve cases of land instead of the commission,” he said. Raila said revoking the title deeds willonly aggravate enmity among Kenyans.

Ms Ngilu disclosed that all transactions on the said acres of land have been halted while cancellation of their deeds is ongoing.

“Together with the NLC, we are implementing the President’s directive and we have started the process of cancellation of all title deeds acquired fraudulently. This activity will be guided by the law,” she said.

According to an audit report on land transactions in Lamu County by the Ministry of Lands most transactions were carried out after promulgation of the Constitution and before the last General Election.

However, it emerged that by the time the titles were issued, the Cabinet had agreed to suspend all land transactions, pending the creation of NLC. The decision was communicated to relevant ministries by Orengo, who wrote: “All public land allocation, renewal and grants of all types of leases, charging and mortgaging of parastatal land, compulsory acquisition by State and dealing in community and trust land are suspended till the commission is established.” Yesterday, Orengo did not pick calls or respond to SMS requests for comment.

However, former President Kibaki’s Director of Communications Ngari Gituku absolved him from blame. “This, as far as I have gathered on total authority, was not brought to his attention at all and he would not sanction anything of that nature,” he said.

EACC spokesperson Yassin Amaro yesterday confirmed that investigations had commenced while sources within the office of the Attorney General said the directorate of criminal investigations had collected files of the companies implicated.