By Rhoda Mutuku
A section of Coast leaders have kicked up a storm over the proposed privatization of part the 1.7 million acre Galana-Kulalu food security project in Tana River and have vowed to nip the plans in the bud.
The leaders among them 10 legislators from Kilifi, Tana River, Mombasa and Kwale counties maintained the 1.7 million acres should in fact be reverted back to the pastoralist communities who were edged out to pave way for the project.
“It is clear the project has failed because the land was never meant for agriculture, it was taken from pastoralists and it should be reverted,” said Garsen Mp Ali Wario, whose constituency hosts the lion’s share of the project.
This comes only a few days after the government announced it will hand over 20,000 acres of the project to private firms in a bid to increase maize acreage.
According to water cabinet secretary Eugene Wamalwa the private firms and the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) would plant the maize March, this year.
The food security project co-hosted in Kilifi and Tana River counties is one of the government’s mega-projects under vision 2030. It was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in January 2014.
The local leaders however claim they were sidelined in important decision making part of the project.
According to them, since the launch, pastoralist communities were edged out from their traditional and potential grazing areas.
“This is the third time we are seeing the land being leased out by people calling themselves investors. These are not investors but mere cartels targeting the land,” said Wario at a press briefing in Mombasa.
The leaders said the government should first explain why the project has failed to deliver projected yields despite the fact that it had spent over Sh.20 billion into the project.
In 2014, the Government witnessed a Sh14.5 billion deal between the National Irrigation Board (NIB) and an Israeli firm, Green Arava (GA), to fast track the setting up of a model farm that was to be the first phase of Galana-Kulalu food security project.
The project has, however, meandered off the track since its launch forcing the government to postpone the planting on the first 10,000-acres plot of land up to three times.
Only 5,000 acres, out of the one million, have been exploited but the government maintains the privatization was among the step to fast track the completion of the remaining acres.
Local leaders are however unconvinced by the projects prospects and want the project terminated to allow pastoralists continue with their activities.
“We are asking the investors to withdraw immediately and we are also telling the government to stop the project since the area is not meant for agriculture.
If really they want to do projects then they should revamp Hola and Bura irrigation scheme which have collapsed and the government is not keen to revive them.” said Galole MP Said Haribae .
“Agriculture is a devolved function. The project should be handed over to Tana River and Kilifi Counties to manage,” said Ganze constituency Mp Mr. Teddy Mwambire.
They now want the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the auditor general to intervene and launch investigations to establish the exact amount of taxpayers’ money that has lost since commencement of the project.
“We will move to court to stop it and if that fails we will mobilize our people to eject any private investor that comes there,” said Mombasa Senator Mohamed Faki.
Jubilee administration envisioned the Sh.400 billion flagship project would cushion millions of Kenyans from chains and manacles of starvation.
Under the project, the government plans to utilize the one million acres land as follows; 500,000 acres of land under maize production, 150,000 acres on beef and game animals, 50,000 acres for dairy farming, 200,000 acres under sugarcane farming, 50,000 acres under horticulture, and the remaining 50,000 acres to grow fruits.
It is projected to move the country from the unreliable rain fed agriculture to irrigation and boost food stocks to ease souring cost of living in the country.
Matuga Mp Kassim Tandaza on his part criticized the national government saying the Sh.20 billion that has since been spent on the project should have been spent to revive cash crops at the Coast.
“Why experiment when it (national Government) could have pumped the cash to say coconut or cashew nut sectors which are the main cash crops in the region,” said Tandaza.
