Hopes wane as a once serene life chokes under weight of insecurity

With a once-thriving tourism and fishing sector, Lamu almost had it all.

It just needed the Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor project to become one of the richest counties in Kenya.

While there were renewed hopes of improved infrastructure spurring economic growth, tourism and fishing are no longer the gems that used to generate billions every year for the local population.

The recent attacks that left about 70 people dead in Mpeketoni and Witu have largely affected the once-bubbling tourism industry in the historic town, with most of the hotels and guest houses recording low business.

As calm slowly returns to Mpeketoni, with businesses trying to pick up, Lamu is already feeling the pinch as the number of both local and international visitors continues to go down.

Tourism stakeholders in the area now blame the sorry state on insecurity that has led to travel advisories being issued from major source markets.

Although Lamu is struggling to regain its lost glory as a leading destination along the Kenyan Coast, players in the tourism industry are staring at a bleak future as insecurity appears to be getting out of hand.

The chairman of the Lamu Cultural Promotion Group (LCPG), Ghalib Alwy, says Lamu is today a pale shadow of its former self as tourists have slowly but steadily been running away.

'LAST NAIL IN THE COFFIN'

Most of the hospitality businesses in Lamu, according to Mr Alwy, have been surviving courtesy of the budget tourists who normally travel by road through the Mombasa-Malindi road to Lamu.

“A number of hotels in Lamu have closed down. The attacks that happened in Mpeketoni appear to be the last nail in the coffin, because even the few tourists who have been daring to travel by road will be now hestitant,” said Mr Alwy who also runs a restaurant, the Bush Gardens Sea Food Grill at the Lamu Seafront.

Lamu’s fortunes started dwindling just after the killing of British tourist David Tebbutt and the kidnapping of his wife Judith in September 2011, by suspected Al-Shabaab militia.

Subsequent terrorist attacks in Mombasa and Nairobi have come down hard on the fragile tourism sector.

“We are calling on the state to stop the blame game and the side shows and boost security so as to safeguard lives.”

“Let’s end the needless loss of lives in Lamu,” said Mr Alwy.

There are disturbing reports that most title deeds in Lamu are fake and this is fast driving investors away as landowners are said to be preparing to reap millions of shillings from the sale of land around the Lamu Port.

Apart from poorly performing tourism, land was the only commodity that had become a major source of income for the residents.

The Chairman of Kiunga Marine and Wildlife Conservation Organisation, Ali Shebwana, says many potential investors are no longer keen on buying land after political leaders cautioned them against involvement in such transactions.

He urges the government to clear the air about land ownership documents to restore the confidence of investors.