
By Hon. Abdi Koropu Tepo
Assalam aleikum warahmatullahi wabarakatu.
We, all the elected National representatives of Isiolo County, have had some constructive engagements with persons knowledgeable on land adjudication and in particular on implications of Legal Notice No.-150.

CONSEQUENCES
The consequences of letting the same stay is dire! It will sanitize illegal allocations and or land grabbing which is very detrimental to the people of our County. Just to mention a few;
1. Recall the gun trotting Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officers claiming larger part of Isiolo town.
I will leave it to you (Read Isiolo Community) to decide whether core mandate of KDF officers is threatening and evicting civilians engaging in their daily economic activities or protecting our borders from external threats as enshrined in the Constitution?

2. Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) corridor: Inhabitants of other counties which is part of the corridor have been compensated! Isiolo is earmarked as belonging to NO ONE and therefore Legal Legal Notice No.-150 is part of a scheme by the authorities to grab our ancestral land without any compensation or giving us any other alternative! Are we children of lesser god?

NO COMPENSATIONS
The above are just examples of the dangers we face as a County. Stay of Legal Notice No.- 150 will legalise the illegal claim of KDF and mandatory acquisition of LAPSET corridor with NO compensations.
Yes, we need titling of our urban plots. I dare ask at what cost? Are we prepared to loose our ancestral grazing land as stay of Legal Notice No.-150 will automatically imply Isiolo will no longer be under Community Land Act.
Legal Notice No.-150 has put the entire County under the Land Adjudication Act (Cap 284).
I am not convinced at the speed with which the entire County is declared as an Adjudication area! Let us identify settlement areas that requires titling, map it and then mark it for adjudication.
CONSULTATIONS

Note, specify it in absolute terms, area and beneficiaries, in consultations and in agreement with the community representatives, opinion leaders and all stakeholders. No ambiguity to avoid exploitation. Then and only then should it be marked for adjudication. The current scenario is akin to putting the cart before the horse.
In the meantime, we demand immediate revocation of Legal Notice 150. Say NO to amendment.
#RevokeLN150
Hon. Abdi Koropu Tepo is the current sitting Member of Parliament for Isiolo South Constituency