•A report by the land administration and management committee showed that a total of 21 parties objected to the allocation of the parcel to the Lake Agro Company.
•Nature Kenya says investments should not supersede the ecological well-being of Yala Swamp and the livelihoods of local communities.
The controversial allocation of 16,713.57 acres to a private agricultural company has exposed vested interests within the National Land Commission.
NLC's role is to manage public land on behalf of the national and county governments.
The commission now admits that swamps ordinarily comprise land parcels that would not be available for allocation as they offer several ecological services.
It, however, went ahead and allocated the Yala Swamp despite objections from 21 parties.
NLC's intention to allocate the controversial swamp was announced on October 14, 2021.
The commission then invited all objections to a public hearing that was to be held in Siaya in June 2022.
NLC held a virtual status conference on June 6 and subsequently held the actual public hearings from June 14 to 16, 2022 in Siaya at the Distinctions Garden.
Objectors were informed that upon the conclusion of the hearings, the committee will retreat to make informed recommendations based on the evidence adduced from the parties’ submissions.
Ecologically, Yala Swamp is a wetland of great ecological importance to Kenya, its neighbours and Africa.
A host of birds, fish and wild animals call it home. Also, two endangered Cichlid only exist in lakes within the wetland.
"The intention of the government to transform parts of the Yala Swamp into agricultural land for food production goes back as far as the early 1970s. This was effected through the setting apart of 3,700 ha of the Swamp through the Trust Land Act and subsequent gazettement in 1970 (Gazette Notice No. 2570 of 25th August 1970)." NLC said.
NLC says around that time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands was consulted extensively by the Kenyan government for technical assistance on the reclamation of the swamp and the feasibility of agricultural production.
It further says that during 1980, various reports were prepared to focus on the potential development of the swamp these include the Yala Integrated Development Plan and the Yala Swamp Reclamation and Development Project reports.
It says small-scale reclamation and development of the swamp land were undertaken throughout the 1980s and 1990s under the supervision of the Lake Basin Development Authority.
"The development of the swamp was partially successful, yet its scale was small and financial benefits were too marginal," NLC said.
NLC says the major investment was therefore required to extend the scale of the project.
“Dominion Farm Limited was brought on board to commercialise the utilisation of the Swamp and increase the benefits to the community," NLC said.
"The investor was given a lease of 25 years to initiate agricultural projects, which included rice, banana, and sugarcane as well as cotton production in addition to aquaculture farming.”
The allocation has caused a storm with 25 African organisations petitioning the government to rescind the allocation of the controversial land.
This has compelled NLC to send its technical officers to the parcel again.
NLC says Dominion Farms’ agricultural interests were initially seen as a major boon to the economy of Siaya county.
It was also hoped the investment would spur the economic development of the entire Lake Basin.
However, the project encountered severe hurdles and Dominion Farms Limited exited.
NLC says the county government of Siaya then invited Lake Agro Limited to take over what DFL had invested in the Swamp, a move actualised through an agreement between DFL and Lake Agro.
It said LAL has made substantial investments in the swamp already and is committed to long-term utilisation of the Yala Swamp.
Interestingly, NLC hints that there was no public participation as required.
“It is noted that there were concerns about the extent of public participation that took place," NLC said.
"The Constitution expects public participation to be a key value in the conduct of government and it is upon the county to demonstrate the level of public participation achieved during the planning process.”
NLC said the allocation does not imply approval of the intended project hence no need to consider approvals from environmental management agencies.
It said the allocation process makes land available to an investor upon which they can make their investment project.
NLC in its determination allocated the controversial parcel to Lake Agro Ltd for a period of 25 years urging the lessee to abide by all lease conditions.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)