Lamu residents decry evictions as KDF demolishes homes on disputed land

Residents of the Kililana area in Lamu County, under the Kililana Farmers Association, have accused the national government of grabbing and evicting them from their ancestral land to put up development projects.

The residents held a peaceful protest in Lamu Island, where they demanded involvement in any development project coming their way and that they were opposed to their displacement without being heard.

Led by Mr Mohamed Athman of Save Lamu organization and Mrs Raya Famau, they claimed that the communities residing in the area had given 300 hectares of land to the government for the construction of the Lamu port but were shocked after soldiers from the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) started evicting and demolishing their homes on a 70,000 hectare piece of land claiming to have been given orders from above.

“We gave them 300 hectares with the promise that residents of Kililana for the Lamu port long time ago, and the government promised to give us title deeds in Kililana B, Magogoni, Mashindwana and Kwasasi, but what we are now seeing is wanton destruction of homes and property with those doing so claiming that the government had given the US army land to construct an airstrip at Simba Magogoni,” he said.

They are now demanding compensation from the government for the destruction and for not involving them in such weighty matters.

“I depend on my land to feed and educate my children, who are now in high school, but the KDF soldiers evicted me from my land with threats of arrest. I want to know if we are Kenyans or if we have some people with more citizenship than others,” said Mwanaisha Kililana from Kililana village.

Mrs Famau said that what they needed was transparency and justice, and accused Governor Issah Timamy of keeping quiet when his people were being treated unfairly.

“No development can come to our area without the knowledge of the county government, and I am asking Governor Timamy why he is quiet when we are facing unjust eviction instead of protection from his administration,” she said.