There’s more to this land-for-port building deal than meets the eye

The Government wishes to lease approximately 100,000 acres of land, part of which falls within the Tana River Delta, to Qatar, in return for the funding of a Sh2.4 billion port on Lamu island to act as Kenya’s second port.

First, Kenya urgently needs a second port and the Government must be praised for according this matter priority. In our contemporary studies on land reform in Africa, we have started referring to a “second scramble for Africa”.

Rich industrialised nations are strategically positioning themselves in Africa, buying or leasing large tracts of land for the exploration of oil, minerals or growing plants for biofuel.

Oil producing states without arable land for food production, on the other hand, scout for land in Africa for the growth of food for their people.

It amounts to the same thing — annexing land and land-based resources for states outside Africa. It is against this background that the Qatar issue must be viewed. Land along the Tana delta is of immense ecological importance and is strategic for our security.

We must be careful not to compromise any of these as we consider leasing it to anyone, much more foreigners, for whatever value.

The coastal land issue still remains largely unresolved. Any government land at the Coast was so obtained by proclamation at the expense of local communities on application of the 1908 Land Titles Act.

This dispossessed many of their indigenous land. Furthermore, the national land policy has made fundamental proposals on how to resolve this matter.

It proposes the preparation of an integrated Coast resource management plan. Then, institutional approaches would holistically manage and resolve the Coast issue and investor applications with the total involvement of Coast people.

Our President would be ill-equipped to process a request such as the one from Qatar given the complexities and technical nature of the surrounding issues.

This matter needs to be referred to a competent land/legal committee to look into and make proper recommendations before land as expansive as suggested is leased out.

Such a committee would propose a period of lease, if so convinced, to avoid replicating scenarios such as the ones we are already trying to resolve where foreigners hold onto land for centuries under the 999 year leases.

Meanwhile, Government could consider a commercial bid for the port development, with funds sourced elsewhere, instead of this land-for-port deal.

IBRAHIM MWATHANE,
Nairobi

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