Address historical injustices now, Coast leaders demand

Mombasa, Kenya: Last week's arrest of Lamu Governor Issa Timamy has sparked a new storm in Coast politics, centred on the thorny issue of land distribution.

There is growing concern that the Jubilee Government either lacks the will or is too partisan to carry out meaningful land reforms and addressing historical injustices that began with the coming of the Arabs to the Kenyan Coast centuries ago, but escalated with  President Jomo Kenyatta's resettlement and land policies.

Mr Timamy blames the many problems that have rocked his turbulent political career on his role as a leading land reform crusader in Lamu County. And now, he has been joined by other local leaders, who are increasingly sounding militant and bold in addressing the Jubilee Government over historical injustices.

On Monday, most leaders from the region boycotted President Kenyatta's function at the Mombasa port, where he oversaw the signing of the Mombasa Port Community Charter. The leaders opted to receive Timamy at the Mombasa law courts, where he was released on bond after being arrested over last month's killings of more than 60 people in Lamu.

Those at hand to receive the governor were Governor Hassan Ali Joho, Senator Hassan Omar Sarai, Woman Representative Mishi Mboko and Nyali MP Awiti Bollo, all from Mombasa County, and leaders from neighbouring counties.

And so as the President spoke, thousands of locals were welcoming Timamy, who emerged from the cells at the Mombasa Law Courts to join other leaders in issuing fiery speeches accusing the government of perpetuating land injustices they said were initiated during Mzee Jomo Kenyatta's administration.

Regional awakening

Not even the traditionally less vocal leaders, including Timamy himself and Jomvu MP Badi Twalib, were left behind. They all claimed that Timany was arrested in order to intimidate leaders from the region not to question land distribution, gas and petroleum exploration, the port project in Lamu and other projects in other parts of the Coast.

"We shall respect the President, but he must treat us equally," said Twalib, who opened the floodgates of anti-Jubilee rhetoric at Timamy's reception.

Timamy was unrelenting and unbending, claiming: "We do not fear anyone, and we shall fight until all the people of Coast get their land rights." The governor said his arrest has sparked an awakening in the region that will not be easily stifled. "The people of Coast have now stood for their rights and we are ready to die for this. I am the Governor for Lamu, whether they like it or not," Timamy thundered.

 

He claimed that he was being persecuted for spearheading the Lamu Declaration made at his homecoming last year, where all the leaders present pledged unity and promised to fight for the interests of the Coastal people.

Joho and Hassan were the most scathing in their criticism of the Government, alleging that local residents were becoming impatient over unsolved historical injustices. Joho even claimed that Timamy's arrest was a prelude to his and Hassan's own incarceration.

"We are ready for any eventuality," said Joho, who also declared that "the people are getting fed up" with the Jubilee Government's policies.

The Mombasa Governor said President Kenyatta's administration had taken a special interest in the Lamu violence. "What is the special interest in Lamu? Is it because you are used to intimidating Coast leaders?" he asked.

Tribal tension

On his part, Hassan warned that Coast leaders and residents will resist attempts to divide and marginalise them because "we are not the generation that will be cowed".

"In the past, we (Coast residents) were described as lazy and Mzee Kenyatta would come here and have leaders clap for him and local people dance for him. That generation of leaders has died off," the Mombasa Senator said.

Earlier, Timamy had claimed that the Jubilee Government was trying to evoke tribal tension in Lamu by alleging that only members of one tribe were killed in the Mpeketoni attacks to frame him and mask what really happened on June 15 and 16.

But exactly is reopening these old wounds?

A convergence of historical and accidental factors is creating a groundswell of popular discontent in the Coast. Local leaders claim landlessness is on the rise in the region, saying President Kenyatta's administration is dragging its feet in fixing the problem through a resettlement programme and addressing historical injustices in land as outlined in the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) report.

Mrima Wanyepe, the Chief Executive Officer of the Coast Landless Social Forum (CLSF), said land has been a ticking time bomb as the number of the landless in the region grows. Mr Wanyepe says 85 per cent of people living within the 10-mile coastal strip in Kilifi County are squatters, while 75 per cent of those in Kwale are also landless.

"A survey we carried out three years ago indicated that over 800,000 families at the Coast are squatters. The solution lies with the National Land Commission but we are worried about politics within the national government and lack of funding," he said.

Wanyepe said groups such as the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) emerged because of frustrations brought about by the land problem. He noted that in Lamu County, the government failed to resettle residents in 22 villages after they were displaced during the Shifta War.

 

Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) Coast co-ordinator Nagib Shamsan said genuine squatters were denied land by greedy leaders in the few settlement schemes that have been established at the Coast.

"This happened in most parts of the Coast. In Lamu County, majority of the Bajuni, Boni and Sanye have not been considered for resettlement over the years. There is need for structured public participation in the allocation of land," Mr Shamsan said.

Thorny issue

Odenda Lumumba, the KLA National Co-ordinator, believes the issue of land at the Coast has remained thorny because the Government has only been addressing symptoms instead of the underlying factors. "The historical land injustices at the Coast require special intervention. The National Land Policy provides for these special interventions," he said.

According to the expert, the Government should initiate resettlement projects in each of the six counties at the Coast to run simultaneously for a given period of time as part of the special interventions.

"In Lamu, the problem was that there was no community land. Most land in the county is public land, while some islands are marine parks. There is need to convert public land to community land to facilitate resettlement," Mr Lumumba said.

He suggests that part of the vast Boni Forest be converted to community land to resettle the Boni community which has been residing in the forest for centuries.

Last year, Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu said only 150,000 title deeds have been issued at the Coast since independence, translating to 3,000 titles a year or 250 titles a month. "The government intends to issue 500,000 titles every year for the next five years," Ngilu said.

But Lumumba dismissed the 60,000 title deeds issued by the Government to Coast residents last year, saying the region requires a comprehensive programme to address the serious land problem.

In May, NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri told the parliamentary committee on Land and Natural Resources that political interests made it difficult to fix land problems at the Coast over the years.

He said colonialism by Arabs, Germans and Portuguese in the ten-mile Coastal Strip and British occupation in the rest of the country marked the beginning of the historical land injustices that African leaders failed to address after independence.

Political rewards

In 1908, the colonial government passed the Land Title Ordinance that required anyone living within the 10-mile Coastal Strip to lay their claims within six months. Most locals did not do so.

"Land that was not claimed within that period was declared crown land to be governed by the Crown Land Ordinance of 1902," Dr Swazuri said.

He said that after independence in 1963, land was allocated as rewards to the politically correct, influential businessmen and leaders.

According to the NLC boss, most land settlements and allocation schemes lacked conviction, were biased towards particular communities and favoured serving officers in the Ministry of Lands and the Provincial Administration.

Swazuri said that recommendations of close to 15 committees or commissions of inquiry into land problems have not been implemented, further complicating the problem.

On May 20, NLC launched a task force to develop legislation on historical land injustices to be presented to Parliament. The team is headed by NLC commissioner Dr Samuel Torerei.