Governor Rasanga suspends land leasing at Yala swamp

Siaya Governor, Cornel Rasanga, has suspended all the ongoing land lease processes at Yala swamp pending a comprehensive survey of the wetland.

The Governor, who has written to the National Land Commission (NLC) to stop all land lease processes at the wetland, said that the county government had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with investors who have shown interest in the swamp.

Speaking at his office Friday, Rasanga said the due legal process was not followed in the leasing.

His move has, however, faced resistance from stakeholders including the European Investor Dominion Farms Limited and the Kenya Wildlife Services.

According to Rasanga, the move will enable the county to clearly establish the portion that the Dominion Farms Limited was allocated by the defunct Siaya and Bondo County Councils.

Rasanga accused the Dominion Company of encroaching into a portion that they had not been allocated and further proceeded to introduce sugarcane farming without any authority from the county government.

The Governor further accused them of doing more harm than good to the community around Yala swamp, arguing that their blockage of the canal that fed Lake Kanyaboli from river Yala was drying up.

He has given the investor a two-week ultimatum to open the canal to allow free flow of water adding that they should also open the Nyamonye-Siaya road which they have also blocked.

Gem MP, Jakoyo Midiwo, has, however, dismissed Governor Rasanga’s claims that he has written to the National Land Commission to suspend the land lease process and challenged him to produce a copy of the letter.

Midiwo, who was speaking in Siaya, claims that Governor Rasanga has connived with the National Land Commission and the National Environmental Authority (NEMA) to irregularly lease the Yala swamp to private investors.

Written by Atieno Mboya