Leaders’ mixed reaction to Lamu County titles cancellation

There were mixed reactions yesterday following recommendation by the National Land Commission (NLC) to cancel title deeds for 12 land parcels in Lamu County.

NLC recommended the cancellations in a report released in Nairobi on Monday, claiming the titles were illegally acquired.

Lamu Governor Issa Timamy welcomed the  cancellation which spared community ranches after investigations into the allocation of 22 parcels of land measuring 500,000 acres by the commission.

“We particularly welcome the recommendation that the parcels whose tittles will be revoked would revert to the county government because that is provided for in the Constitution,” Timamy said.

But Lamu West MP Julius Ndegwa dismissed the NLC report describing it as a shoddy job and claiming the commission findings did not serve the interest of Lamu squatters.

“The commission should advise the hundreds of squatters what to do because its recommendation might result in mass eviction. NLC should have recommended ways of dealing with Lamu squatters to address the current crisis,” Ndegwa said, adding the squatters were spread out in Hindi and Witu division and want to know their fate.

County Woman Representative Shakilla Abdalla said NLC should have first pushed for the Community Land Bill before recovering the 12 parcels.

“The Community Land Bill is crucial to ensure the recovered land goes to the Lamu county government. Before the enactment, the national government can easily use the returned land for its own purposes instead of giving it to the county government,” Ms Shakilla said.

Meanwhile, Timamy urged Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu to speed up plans for the compensation of land owners so as to allow the construction of the Lamu Port South Sudan Transport Corridor project to kick off. The governor said he had earlier recommended that the first batch 62 people at the port area be compensated at Sh1.5 million but Ms Ngilu had reduced the number to 58.