Councillors to sue over Qatar land plan

Plans by the Government to lease out 40,000 hectares in the Tana Delta to Qatar continued to draw angry reactions, with area councillors threatening to sue.

The Tana River councillors have said they will go to court to block the Government’s plans to lease the land to Qatar to grow food.

County council vice-chairman Gure Golo said the councillors opposed the project because local communities used the delta for livestock and farming.

Mr Golo told the Nation by telephone that during drought, livestock owners from as far as Garissa, Wajir, Marsabit and other arid regions went to the delta for pastures and water.

More than 10,000 livestock farmers in Tana Delta District would be robbed of a livelihood if the Government went ahead with its plans, said the councillors.

“Since time immemorial the delta has been our lifeline because millions of our cattle and those from neighbouring district use the wetland as a grazing zone as well as for watering of animals,” said Mr Golo.

He added: “The local authority gets more than 90 per cent of its revenue from the livestock sub-sector, so if the Government gives Qatar 100,000 acres of the delta land the council will be cashstrapped.”

And Tana River Pastoralists Community Association chairman Ali Wario said the group would soon hold a demonstration to protest against the Government’s plan.

Avert famine

Mr Wario said that it would be unrealistic for the Government to lease land to a foreign country whereas all the residents are landless.

“It is sad that the Government is planning to lease land to Qatar yet the residents are squatters who have been lobbying for their resettlement. Let the Government allocate the land to residents so that they can grow food and avert perennial famine in the area,” he said.

Former ambassador Hussein Dado appealed to the Government to halt the process of leasing the land to Qatar until residents are consulted.

Mr Dado said there was no idle land in Tana River.

“The land transaction between the Government and Qatar must be stopped so that residents and can present their views. Where will the residents graze their animals or do farming if the land is leased to a foreign country?” he asked.

Kenya Marine Forum secretary Anwary Abae opposed the move, saying if the land were leased to Qatar, it would lead to the destruction of pockets of forests and bio-diversity in the delta.

Mr Abae said the delta was home to rare species of monkeys, birds, hippos and fish, which will all disappear if the land was used for farming.

“If the delta is used for commercial farming then the forests will be wiped out, while the ox-bow lakes which contain hippopotamus and fish will dry up. The wetland is a fragile eco-system which requires tender care,” said the environmentalist.

On Sunday, Tourism minister Najib Balala said the residents should have a say over the approval of the project.

Mr Balala, however, said that if the land was idle, it should be leased to Qatar, because it would lead to development and provide job opportunities and social amenities.

Lamu sea port

At the weekend, Presidential Press Service director Isaiah Kabira said Kenya would benefit immensely from the deal.

Under the proposed project, the government of Qatar will give Kenya Sh180 billion that will be used to build a second sea port in Lamu and build roads and railways linking the region to Ethiopia and Southern Sudan.

The deal was discussed last month when President Kibaki visited Doha for a development conference.