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Governor Issa Timamy: We have become squatters in our own home county

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

LAMUA COUNTY: After the Mpeketoni attacks, Lamu Governor Issa Timamy was arrested and arraigned in court in connection with the violence in which close to 100 people, including victims of other attacks in Lamu and Tana River counties, were killed.

Before his election as governor, Timamy practiced as an advocate for 30 years. He maintains his law firm in Mombasa. The 2013 General Election was his first attempt at politics but went ahead to make history as the only UDF governor. Timamy has never settled as a governor. He is facing an ongoing petition against his election besides investigations over the Lamu massacre.

He speaks about his political opponents and land tycoons who he blames for his woes. Below are the excerpts.

QUESTION: You were among the first individuals to be arrested over the Lamu massacre. What was your involvement?

ANSWER: I was shocked when I was arrested.  I am a cautious person who has never been sued in my 30 years of practice as a lawyer. I also had never spent a night in a prison cell. My whole world almost came down the moment the steel door of the cell was slammed. I was not in any way involved in the attacks.

I blame my arrest on my political opponents and land tycoons who have grabbed almost the entire Lamu County. I remember during the elections, some of my political opponents incited voters that if I was elected, I would drive away Kikuyus from the county.

Strangely enough, I have not been formally charged. What the prosecution did was to present an affidavit in court and asked for two months to do investigations.

This was the first time I witnessed a situation where someone is taken to court and then instead of being charged, the prosecution asks the court for time to investigate.

On July 14, the Mombasa High Court gave the office of the DPP one month to conclude investigations into my involvement in the Lamu attacks.

Your arrest is connected to claims that the attacks in Mpeketoni targeted a particular community over land?

That is not true at all.  Although the Kikuyus were the most affected, people from different ethnic groups were also killed.

This is an unfortunate remark to make when the attacks represented the face of Kenya. Among those who died were Kikuyus, Kisiis, Luhyas, Luos, Pokomos, Digos and Taitas. It’s important to note that Mpeketoni is a predominant Kikuyu settlement and thus any attack in that place will have Kikuyus as the majority of the victims.

There are a number of properties that were destroyed but are not owned by Kikuyus. The attackers burnt 36 vehicles parked along the roads. They did not care to find out if the vehicles were owned by the Kikuyus.

The security apparatus is blamed for the slow response to the attacks. Did you seek help during the attacks?

The attacks happened when I was in Lamu and my deputy was in Mpeketoni where he resides. He called to inform me that they were being attacked.

All of us made frantic efforts to get help, including calling State House and I was among the first people to arrive at the besieged town that morning.

Up to today, I don’t understand why help from the police never came in time. Whatever happened on the fateful night is a shameful thing to this country.

Lamu has one of the largest presences of police and military units in the country. We have GSU, AP, Kenya Army and Kenya Navy, all within minutes’ of reach to Mpeketoni.

A contingent of police officer from the sea front in Lamu could not travel to Mukowe to offer help in Mpeketoni because they did not have boats. It’s even worrying how the weapons got to Lamu. We have heard claims that the attackers came from Malindi or Mombasa. Interestingly, from Malindi to Mpeketoni, there are seven police roadblocks. How comes the police never detected anything?

What kind of relationships did you have with the former security chiefs in Lamu County?

The former county commissioner never even for once consulted me about security despite the fact that I am the senior most elected individual in that county. The former county security chiefs did not think elected leaders in Lamu were important. It’s important for security chiefs to liaise with county officials because we are answerable to the people.

What do you think was the motive of the attacks?

The truth is that the attackers wanted to create animosity between Muslims and Christians. The attackers intended to make it look like it was Muslims attacking Christians. In the morning of the attack, I visited Mpeketoni and survivors pointed accusing fingers at the Al Shabaab.

After that, there have been claims that the attacks are over land and aimed at mass relocation of the Kikuyus.

What I am sure of is that the people of Lamu cannot kill because of land. They are too friendly to do that. The attack was external.

Talking about land, you have been a vocal proponent of land reforms.

I am still fighting for the people of Lamu to own land. I am the governor of Lamu but the only piece of property that my family owns is an old house that belonged to our grandmother.

 

I cannot buy land in Lamu because the people who have grabbed it don’t want to sell. We have simply become locals squatting in our home.

The county government does not have land to give out to investors because every piece has been grabbed and sub-divided.

There are various maps showing extensive ranch of up to 60,000 hectares but whose owners are not listed. The maps show plot numbers without identifying the owners.

I doubt if there is a county with such extensive ranches as Lamu. Yet, you will not find even a single structure or livestock in these so-called ranches.

There are claims that some of the land tycoons who have been arrested are your friends.

That’s far from the truth. I have never met most of them and they are not my close friends.

I have only met Ali Bujra about two or three times. Does this make him a close friend? Mahadi Swaleh Mahadi alias Jesus closely worked with the local security team to move squatters from his disputed 10,000 acres land.

How have the violent attacks affected your county?

I believe that the attacks were an assault on my leadership and then they were an economic sabotage of not just Lamu county, but the whole country.

Tourism in the county is now at its lowest. Schools have been closed.

The recent happenings are negatively affecting a county that has been marginalised for decades.

We receive only Sh1.6 billion from the Treasury out of which Sh1.1 billion goes to pay salaries. This means that we are only left with Sh600,000 for development.

What solutions do you propose to end the land issues in Lamu?

I have four proposals. One, a land audit should be done to establish who owns the expansive ranches in Lamu and how they acquired the property.

Second, the local people should be given title deeds for the pieces of land that they own.

Thirdly, there is a rising challenge of the high number of squatters. The squatter problem has to be addressed probably through settling them in the former settlement schemes.

Grazing areas should be set aside for the pastoralist communities of the Orma and Somalia.