Boundary dispute threatens to stall Lamu Port project, says study

Kenya: Mega projects like the proposed Isiolo Resort City and the Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor plan face significant threats if simmering boundary rows between Isiolo and Meru counties are not resolved urgently, a new report warns.

The report dubbed Natural Resource Management and Pastoral Livelihoods recommends that an all-inclusive boundary commission be set up to solve the bitter dispute and secure the socio-economic prospects of the area that has already suffered historical injustices.

Recent efforts to seek the intervention of the National Land Commission and Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to resolve the matter amicably have not borne any fruit. Even recent promises by President Uhuru Kenyatta to resolve the long-running border dispute are yet to be fulfilled.

"The dispute may disrupt the development of positive investment ventures such as the Isiolo resort city, Lapsset projects as both counties and the communities are haggling over who will benefit from the project. It is therefore important that a commission of inquiry be formed that will resolve the dispute," said the report's author Dr Abdullahi Jillo.

He added that although the boundary dispute began during the times of independence, it has now taken more urgency due to the upcoming mega projects in the disputed area.

"There is need for urgent peaceful and lasting solutions on boundary and resource disputes in the areas to foster future harmony for the communities to realise sustainable development under this noble vision," said Jillo.

Tourist destination

Isiolo has been designated for tourism development, with Isiolo town and its environs being proposed as a major tourist destination and resort city, among other developments under Vision 2030. The report indicates if the proposed projects do not take off due to the boundary row, it would deal a big blow to the economic prospects of the region which has suffered serious marginalisation and economic exclusion for the past 50 years.

The latest report comes as the dispute rages and at a time when residents in the area are living in constant fear and uncertainty about the future. Isiolo residents accuse their Meru counterparts of annexing parts of their land after independence and are demanding it to have it restored, but those in Meru insist the disputed area belongs to Meru County.

Parliament attempted to have a boundary commission address the dispute in 1970.