Rising insecurity in Lamu sees key state services scaled down

A number of services have been scaled down due to insecurity challenges in Lamu, even as the government Tuesday maintained it was still in control of the county.

The ongoing second phase of voter registration is the most affected, while schools are gradually reopening after a series of terrorist attacks suspected to be carried out by the Al-Shabaab terror group interfered with their return to school.

Coast Regional Commissioner John Elungata told the Nation Tuesday the security situation in Lamu had significantly improved due to coordination between the National Police Reservists, Kenya Defence Forces and National Police Service.

“Schools which were closed have started reopening and with increased deployment of security officers, cases of attacks will not interrupt any government activity,” said Mr Elungata.

Curfew ending

The regional commissioner said as the curfew period comes to an end in the next few days, the security team is reviewing the situation to determine if it will be extended or not.

“The situation has normalised, but on the extension of curfew we leave it to the National Security Council (NSC) to decide,” said Mr Elungata.

Planned Judiciary outreach services intended to serve those in rural areas within Lamu have also been put on hold as security arrangements are put in place. 

Chief Justice Martha Koome has directed an immediate review of the security status of all judges, judicial officers, and staff across the county with a view to enhance their safety after four of its staff were attacked at Lango la Simba area last week. 

She has asked the head of the Judiciary Police Unit to review and accord adequate security to judicial officers in risk-prone areas. 

The plea comes a day after Garsen Senior Principal Magistrate Paul Rotich, Boy Njue (court clerk) Frank Sirima from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), and police constables Moses Bett and Willis Mgendi were attacked by suspected al-Shabaab militants. 

Voter listing

The insecurity in Lamu County is also a major concern for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the new drive to register more voters, forcing the commission to push the listing to February 3 in the most affected areas. 

The IEBC said the period would give it time to plan and assess the situation to prevent any disruptions during registration. 

County IEBC Election Manager Mohamed Adan said residents in the affected villages cannot participate in the ongoing voter registration due to insecurity, lost, misplaced or burnt national identity cards, which happened as they fled their homes. 

Affected voter registration centres that IEBC officials visited while accompanied by security agencies to assess the situation this week include Juhudi, Holy Angels, Mikinduni, Kibaoni, Nyatha, Poromoko, Mavuno, Hindi and parts of Witu Division. 

“Together with security agencies, we visited all the polling stations that were affected by recent attacks … we discovered that some people are still living in camps. The residents there also raised concerns on how they will participate in the ongoing voter registration at a time when their IDs were either lost, burnt or misplaced during the attacks,” said Mr Adan. 

Mr Adan also noted that other insecurity hotspots where voter registration is going on witnessed either an extremely low voter turnout while others had no one showing up for fear of being attacked.  

On Tuesday, Mr Elungata said more security officers had been deployed to areas considered volatile as far as the voter registration is concerned. 

Also, at least five schools have not been opened, with dozens of learners remaining at home. 

Close to half the learners from the Boni minority community in terror-prone Boni forest villages are yet to report back to school, four weeks since schools across the country reopened for the third term. 

Lamu County Director of Education Joshua Kaaga admitted that a number of pupils from Boni forest villages had not yet reported back to Mokowe Arid Zone Primary. 

Mr Kaaga, however, said arrangements were in place for the pupils to be ferried back to the institution before the end of the week. 

“The duty to transport pupils to school has been left to the parents. Due to the challenges and the poverty level of most parents in the area, we had a meeting with area leaders last week to oversee how those pupils can be brought back immediately. Everything is now intact. We expect all the remaining learners to be at school this week,” said Mr Kaaga. 

Al-Shabaab attacks

For the past two weeks, Lamu has witnessed a spate of terror attacks suspected to be orchestrated by Al-Shabaab militants that has left 15 people dead and more than 10 houses torched in various parts of Lamu West. 

The situation resulted in hundreds of residents fleeing their homes for camps in places far from their villages. 

The affected areas include Juhudi, Ukumbi, Widho, Marafa, Mashogoni, Githurai, Mikinduni, Kibaoni, Kibokoni and Bobo-Sunkia, all in Lamu West constituency. 

Other places that have also witnessed insecurity incidents caused by al-Shabaab in Lamu are Basuba, Milimani, Mangai, Mararani and Kiangwe in Boni forest and villages on the Lamu-Somalia border, including Kiunga, Ishakani, and Madina. 

Lamu Governor Fahim Twaha said the killing patterns point to land and political causes which have led to ethnic cleansing, and once they are resolved amicably, the insecurity would likely reduce.

“Government should move with speed to resolve land problems and issue the locals with titles. We are in talks for this to be completed by April this year,” said Mr Twaha.

Increasing security challenges in the area are putting the Sh2.5 trillion Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (Lapsset) project in a limbo, and could lead to the delay of its completion as project contractors withdraw their employees due to the attacks.

Malindi Diocese Catholic Bishop Willybard Lagho said there was need for a sober move by the stakeholders to save the county.

“Lamu residents and Kenyans at large need peace in Lamu due to its location and unexploited opportunities ... Rights issues should be resolved to save the county,” said Bishop Lagho.

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