If there is any leader in Coast whose cup is overflowing so soon after election, it must be Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya.
A recent visit by the National Land Commission led by their leader Dr Mohamed Swazuri to investigate the rampant cases of irregular land allocations in the county and the resultant statement from the team shows that Kwale is ripe for a long hard look.
Kwale should be one of the richest counties in Coast region considering its vast agricultural land, tourist facilities that stretch from Likoni to Vanga and the numerous rare minerals that are dotted all over the landscape from the recent find of Niobium to undefined Titanium deposits.
Despite these positive indicators however, Kwale remains a case study of underdevelopment with some of the lowest socio-economic paradigms with a clear tail end Charlie position in child mortality and girl child neglect ever recorded anywhere in the country.
While the Governor is reported to be up to the task having worked for a long time with Plan International which has a very strong presence in Kwale and which has been responsible for mapping out problems ailing the county, it is the brazenness with which some actors have decided to pursue their nefarious activities that shocks.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and National Land Commission (NLC) officials have uncovered a plot by some investors to include the rare Kisite –Mpunguti Marine Reserve into the proposed Shimoni settlement scheme in which the benefactors were planning to sell off the conserved islands for a record Sh1.5 Billion !
This is the story of Kwale!
However suffice to say that this calumny can never work without the collusion of locals and officers in the Ministry of Lands who have compounded the land ownership crisis in Kwale to make it one of the most volatile areas in the country in matters security.
Is it surprising that the Kaya Bombo, Mombasa Republican Council and other fringe groups which have unleashed terror on the residents of the cosmopolitan county basing their raisson de ettre on the simmering land question?
Is it possible that some of these alienators of public land could have been involved in bloody clashes in the region to shroud or divert attention from themselves as we cracked our heads to get the reasons behind the attacks?
The EACC and the NLC have declared plans by the “investors” as untenable and declared that Kisite Mpunguti is a national asset which is protected by law.
As I have indicated earlier, these threats to our conserved heritage cannot be executed without the participation of some greedy members of the local communities.
A glaring example which I often refer to is that of Chale Island.
When I was a local news editor in the late nineties, a group of elders claiming to represent one of the Kaya’s in the South Coast came to my office armed with documents to show a perceived threat to pristine island which the National Museums of Kenya had declared a National Monument which held the grave of one of Vasco da Gama’s sailors –Carlis Pablo (from where the name Chale evolved).
My team moved into action and several headline stories later, the threat was lifted and the monument status was restored.
Three months later on a business trip to Chale Paradise, an eco-friendly restaurant and cottages on one part of the island, I stumbled to the coterie of Kaya elders who had engaged us into the campaign tearing into crabs, lobsters and fish –guests of the investor whom we had outwitted and they were really having a ball.
They almost shrunk into their Kikoi’s when they saw me and I was later informed that they were bought out by the investor for a measly Sh10,000 per elder which was negotiated by their local Member of Parliament .
It is claimed that the first contracts to start excavations in the volatile Maumba –Nguluku region in Kwale were influenced by certain gifts including bicycles and motorbikes to some local administrators pretending to be acting in the public interest before it was sold out to new investors.
The Governor has to resolve cases of land alienation in Kwale to ensure residents regain confidence in the government so that they can become partners in modernisation of the promising county economy.
With the support of powerful institutions like the EACC and the NLC, Mr Mvurya should be able to turn the tide on impunity and set the county on an agenda that can ensure it stands strong and proud amongst the giants of Kenya but which can only be possible with focused attention to past misdeeds and the possible prosecution of serial offenders.
Islands which have been seized through graft and undue influence should be investigated and repossessed as county’s realign their priorities.
With this re-focussing of priorities , the Coastal region might yet surprise the rest of the country and disabuse them of the notion that they are idle coconut tree watchers waiting for the fruits to fall down and feed on them.
Those who have had a hard look at the potential of this region know what latent potential lurks beneath the surface and that all it needs is leadership to attain it.
Mvurya, you are sitting atop a gold-mine –Will you mine it or go to sleep?
The writer is a journalist, consultant
