Timamy denies claim he's opposed to building of KDF base in Lamu

Lamu County Leaders from left, Julius Ndegwa (Lamu West MP ), Abu Chiaba (County Senator), Issa Timamy (County Governor) Shakila Abdalla (Women Representative) during a press conference in Nairobi on the AMU Power Project in the County. PHOTO DAVID NJAAGA

Governor Issa Timamy has accused local leaders of driving a wedge between him and the national government over the plan to establish a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) base.

Yesterday, Mr Timamy (pictured) denied that he refused to allocate land to build the base to fight Al Shabaab, but clarified that the national government, through the Cabinet Secretary for Defence Raychelle Omamo, had not responded to his letter requesting for details about the plan.

He told Lamu Senator Abu Chiaba, Lamu County Woman Representative Shakilla Abdalla and Lamu West MP Julius Ndegwa that he has not rejected the plan by the ministry to set aside ten square kilometres for the military base at Pandanguo in Lamu West sub county.

The politicians were quoted in a section of the media early this week lashing out at Timamy for allegedly making a unilateral decision to deny KDF land for the security installation.

Mr Chiaba accused the governor of being insensitive to security matters in the county by allegedly failing to act on the request by the ministry.

Timamy has been at loggerheads with several elected leaders who accuse him of working in isolation.

Yesterday, Timamy termed the claims against him as "propaganda and pure political machination by detractors who are hell bent on destabilising the county government, and politicising sensitive matters such as security for their own selfish interests."

"I have never rejected any request by the Kenya Defence Forces for ten square kilometre of land for a military base in Pandanguo in Lamu West, neither have I failed to communicate the important matter on land allocation to the relevant leaders as alleged. I actually responded positively to a request from the Defence CS for the land in July 2014 and forwarded the same matter for input from all elected leaders in writing, including Senator Abu Chiaba," said Timamy.

Timamy argued that for almost two years, he has not received feedback on the matter or furnished with the exact location and acreage of the land as per his request so as to kick-start the application process.

"I don't see how I can deny an application if it was never lodged. Lamu is not a kingdom where I can make a unilateral decision on such a weighty matter; there are procedures to be followed," said the governor.

According to the governor, the process of allocating land for the KDF project should involve mandatory public hearings and eventual approval by the county assembly as per section 114 of the County Governments Act, 2012.

"The county executive is only one arm of the county government and does not have powers to issue or deny land through my statements alone. We must involve the people of Lamu, County Land Management Board, County Assembly, Elected Leaders, and the National Land Commission. This is why I forwarded the Defence CS a request before we formalise any approval," Timamy said.