Swazuri blames Transport ministry, KPA for delay in Lamu land compensation
Lamu Governor Issa Timamy (left) and NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri during a recent tour of Lamu. Forty five people will be compensated for their land acquired for the Lamu Port. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Dr Swazuri said his commission had done the work of identifying and vetting of the people expected to be compensated for their land.
- The NLC boss blamed the Ministry of Transport and KPA for the slow pace of the process.
- He said he was tired of being blamed by the Lamu people though his commission had done its part.
- He revealed that the second phase of identifying and vetting the Lapsset families was still under way.
National Land Commission (NLC) chairman Muhammad Swazuri on Thursday distanced himself from the delay in paying compensation to families whose land was taken to give way for the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor project.
Dr Swazuri said his commission had done the work of identifying and vetting the people expected to be compensated for their land.
He said NLC completed the first batch of the exercise in December 2014 and forwarded 157 names of beneficiaries to the Ministry of Transport, which was to compensate the families immediately.
The NLC boss blamed the Ministry of Transport for the slow pace of the process.
He said he was being blamed for someone else’s mistake and expressed his shock over the manner in which the compensation for the Lamu Port land was being unnecessarily delayed though the commission had already completed the vetting process.
He asked the Ministry of Transport and the Kenya Ports Authority to come clean and explain to the affected families what exactly was happening.
BENEFICIARIES IDENTIFIED
“My commission was able to identify 157 beneficiaries in the first phase. We submitted the names to the Ministry of Transport since December last year.
“I don’t know why it has taken such a long time for the people to be paid. People should know that we did our part. The Transport ministry and KPA are the ones to blame,” said Dr Swazuri.
He revealed that the second phase of identifying and vetting the Lapsset families was still under way. He urged those whose names were not published in the first phase and those who had applied to the commission for compensation to be patient as their concerns would be addressed during the second phase.
He said one major factor contributing to the delay in completing the identification process was that multiple applicants were claiming the same pieces of land.
“We have many cases of mix-ups with ID numbers, names and bank account details. We have also found one piece of land being claimed by more than two individuals. We need time to sort this out but we will try to be fast. People must be compensated,” added Dr Swazuri.
Dr Swazuri’s sentiments came at a time when more than 100 Lapsset families have demanded that he and Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu state exactly when the families would receive their money.
Recently, Lamu leaders threatened to reject the Lapsset project if their people are not paid soon.
