17 December 2018•Update: 17 December 2018
By Magdalene Mukami
NAIROBI, Kenya
A human rights report released in capital Nairobi on Monday shed light on the continued abuse by Kenyan police and military against environment activists protesting a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project in the country.
The 69-page report "They just want to silence us: Abuses against environmental activists at Kenya’s Coast Region" by the Human Rights Watch and the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders gives details of the activism surrounding the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor project (LAPSSET).
”At least 35 activists campaigning against the region’s mega infrastructure and transport projects have faced threats, beatings, arbitrary arrests, and detentions,” it says.
The project dubbed the largest infrastructure project in East and Central Africa envisions a state-of-the-art seaport, three international airports, roads and railway networks and three resort cities, among other things.
However, the development is affecting the livelihoods of fishermen in the southern island of Kenya.
Somo Mohammed, one such fishermen quoted in the report, said the project is being built on their fishing grounds. It has also affected the growth of mangroves which are a breeding ground for fish.
He added that environmental activists stepped in to try and help them but they were discouraged from voicing their concerns by police and government officials.
Mohammed said two activists went missing in 2016 and 2017, and all other leaders were arrested.
"Some were taken to Nairobi, threatened and all their files were confiscated in a move to intimidate them," he added.
Otsieno Namwaya, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "Kenyan authorities should focus on addressing the environmental and health concerns relating to the LAPSSET development project instead of harassing the activists who raise the issues.”
The environmentalists who have campaigned against a planned coal power plant which is part of the project, saying it will pollute the air and water, affecting the livelihoods of local communities, have been accused of having links to Al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based militant Islamist group, and arrested, the report notes.
