For nearly two decades, successive Kenyan governments have promoted mega infrastructure projects as a pathway to development. The Lamu Port has been one of them.
In 2012, then president Mwai Kibaki – at the inauguration ceremony for a transport corridor that stretches from the Lamu Port to South Sudan and Ethiopia, and known as Lapsset – stated :
I have no doubt that this day will go down in history as one of the defining moments – when we made a major stride to connect our people to the many socio-economic opportunities that lie ahead.
However, as my research shows , the reality of these mega projects is more complex than state officials acknowledge.
Instead of bringing development, a better society and a happier life, mega infrastructures result in hardship, especially for vulnerable, historically marginalised groups of people. This is vividly illustrated by Lamu’s fishermen.
The story of the fishermen provides a good lens through which to understand how vulnerable communities are affected by mega infrastructure projects. In Lamu, 70% of the local population depends on artisanal fishing . This is characterised by small-scale, low-cost and low-technology fishing practices.
A three-judge bench ruled that the construction of Lamu Port violated the rights to public participation, public information, a clean and healthy environment, and culture.
Regarding artisanal fishermen’s livelihoods, the judges ordered the government to recognise fishing rights as amounting to property, and pay US$170 million in compensation to 4,700 fishermen displaced by the port construction.