NLC in a spot over Lapsset land

Lamu Governor Issa Timamy when he appeared before the Joint Committees at Continental House, Nairobi on Thursday 17/07/14 to shed light on the allegations of murder in his county.PHOTO:BONIFACE OKENDO

The county government has opposed a plan by the National Land Commission (NLC) to allocate land to the Lapsset corridor.

Governor Issa Timamy termed the move to allot more than 28,000 hectares of land to the project as unconstitutional, saying NLC has no mandate of allocating the public land to any investor without consulting his government.

The governor told the Muhammad Swazuri-led commission to consult with the county government and also ensure that the interests of residents living on the land are protected.

Speaking at Witu Trading Centre in Lamu on Sunday when he laid a foundation stone for the construction of a new operating theatre at the local health centre, Mr Timamy warned that the county government could be headed to the High Court to challenge the decision.

Timamy said the commission allocated the land to Lapsset without consulting the county government, which is the custodian of public land in devolved governments.

He asked NLC to rescind the plan and consider engaging his administration to resolve the issue amicably before it gets out of hand. "We have a letter from NLC informing us of their unilateral action to allocate 28,300 hectares of land to the Lapsset Corridor Authority. As a county government, we have not been consulted as the law requires," he said.

"Whereas we are the custodian of public land in our county on behalf of residents, NLC has a constitutional role of management of that same land but it cannot do anything with it without our involvement," he added.

Timamy further said the land in question belongs to thousands of people with title deeds, adding that the land agency did not specify whether they would be compensated or offered an alternative land.