Lamu Fishermen: We Demand our rights, compensate us for the loses incurred

The LAPSSET plan was first heard in 1972 in Nairobi about the government wanting to initiate the Lamu port, the conversation nor action never bore fruits during those years until 2011 when the then president Mwai Kibaki revived them, and that was the beginning of it all, the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopian Transport corridor LAPSSET project was kick-started on 2^nd March 2012 when H.E the 3^rd president of the republic of Kenya jointly launched the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopian Transport corridor project in Lamu together with H.E President Salva Kiir and H.E Prime minister Meles Zenawi, during the launch; the three leaders shook hands as a sign of unity in the purpose of the success of the project.

(Photo credit: Daily Nation)

At the time optimism was seen between the countries, and in Kenya, all groups of people from Women, Youths, and people living with disabilities saw opportunities of getting employed from the major project, and most importantly the Lamu fishermen, the fisher folks saw opportunities of expanding their fishing business from local to National and internationally.

But things started going south in October 2016, when the dredging of the sea began, the fishing industry went from 95% to 25% leaving fishermen in a puzzle not knowing which direction to follow, Lamu used to export tones of fish in different parts of the Country and beyond before the dredging of the sea began at the Lamu Port area. Majority of the people were rendered jobless and could barely afford three meals a day as they were now living a dollar a day; below the poverty line.

Four years later Fishermen sighed with relief after court issued judgment in their favor to be compensated with Ksh. 1.76 billion to cater for the losses incurred since the dredging of the sea began, optimism was felt all over Lamu County and it was now the beginning of the new dawn for the Lamu community, this came barely 4 years after Save Lamu a community environment organization in Lamu filed case against the LAPSSET project In 2012.

It is now 10 years since the Lamu community spearheaded by Save Lamu took the case to court on 25^th January 2012, the community was aggrieved by how the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopian Transport corridor was designed and implemented without proper public participation and environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), and now it is over 5 years since the judgment in the petition number 22 of 2012 was issued by the High court at Nairobi for the fishers to receive compensation.

There has been a lot of back and forth from the court which bore no fruits but instead increased tension as the majority of the fishermen died while waiting to be compensated, Save Lamu on the other hand side has been doing a lot of advocacies within the County, creating awareness and having one on one dialogues with different stakeholders, Lawyers from Kenya Ports Authority (K.P.A), County Government of Lamu, Katiba Institute, Natural Justice among many others.

Through aid from Heinrich Boll Foundation, we moved from one village to the other from Matondoni/Kipungani Villages, Amu, Shella, Mtangawanda, and Pate in Lamu east, Mkunumbi to take the fishers through the consent and agreement which most of them did not know of what the judgment entails.

below are the Facebook links for our community outreach

https://www.facebook.com/159727020738135/posts/pfbid0UYTySRSgynP9zHoeeEDFL4EWwRKZMy3MUj1XGx25n8HF8EsSxc2z6NycbYsaM7Xfl/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=D5hRgS

https://www.facebook.com/159727020738135/posts/pfbid0V1DrE5MUS4G5aADHwBfsufquN2CNmjVMGcHoi65UHjGG5Q568NwTyciBAJae3r3Gl/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=D5hRgS

https://www.facebook.com/159727020738135/posts/pfbid0mjSm4aRG4ioxGGyHeU7WK739JY3UtHpiSwoEyGw7466DqvsHiXgcMjxNNWeKyyjwl/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=D5hRgS

https://www.facebook.com/159727020738135/posts/pfbid0T3RdLtvK4yTt2pvHMvu9HzZ18QwcsJ9hq2KiY7AUhcnPFk9gWkAyF91acweWhvMdl/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=D5hRgS

https://www.facebook.com/159727020738135/posts/pfbid02Z6ReD3joRD4pyfKF4sDsVt4R6xKrndeUUHmqTEN33CBHKQ7U7iFrofC8rvue4DJMl/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=D5hRgS

” We call on the government to compensate the fishermen, we depend on our husbands, brothers, fathers at the end of it all if they do not go fishing we women are the most affected we become the victims,” said Husna Bakari from Pate.

” I am aging now, time is running out some of us have died, and the only thing we are told is that we will receive compensation any time from now, we don’t know about tomorrow,” Said Shee Abdallah Shemote from Mokowe.

” We depend so much on the sea for our day-to-day lives, the economy has dropped life has become hard, we call on the government for speedy compensation” said Hawa Abdallah

Story: Save Lamu/Khadija Juma