Lamu East residents want land taken by Environment ministry given back

Lamu East residents now want Parliament to intervene and ensure they get back their ancestral land from which they were allegedly chased away.

According to a petition filed in Parliament, the residents claim that over 39,927 hectares of the land were irregularly possessed and gazetted as a State forest.

The land in Boni Lungi area between Dodori and Boni National Reserves was home to 480 households before the takeover by the Environment ministry through gazette notice No. 1447 of 2016.

Through their area MP Captain Ruweida, the residents want the land to be declared a community land and given to the residents as it was acquired without public participation.

 “The gazettement was done without consulting the people and the leaders of the affected region, contrary to Article 10(2)(a) of the Constitution, that provides for public participation in making, implementing public policy and in applying the law,” the petitioners said.

“Further, the gazettement was in breach of the provisions of Article 69(1)(d) that requires the State to encourage public participation in environmental management.”

Haddijah Haussein, one of the petitioners, said the contested land is a community land that the locals have been farming on and also depend on to collect fruits, honey, and plants for traditional medicine and building materials.

“We want justice be done, as a community we have suffered since the land was taken away from us,” stated Mohammed Butete at Parliament buildings on Tuesday.

Speaking when they appeared before the Public Petitions Committee that is chaired by Kitui East MP Nimrod Mbai, the petitioners pleaded with the committee to consider their petition favourably.

Lamu East MP Capt. Ruweida Mohamed also called on Parliament to ensure the residents are given back their land and the ministry compelled to revoke the 2016 gazette notice.

“The committee should recommend that the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development in consultation with the county Government of Lamu to facilitate the registration of Boni-Lungi as community land pursuant to Article 63(5) of the Constitution and other applicable laws,” Ruweida said.