This archive report was first published on 27 October 2021.
On October 14, 2021, the National Land Commission (NLC) ran an advertisement in local dailies notifying the public of its intention to hive off part of the Yala Swamp and give it to Lake Agro Limited for crop production.
The 16,763-acre Yala Swamp, which cuts across Siaya and Busia counties, is home to the nationally threatened Sitatunga antelopes and rare fish species known as cichlid that have since become extinct in Lake Victoria.
Nature Kenya, a conservationist group, has launched an online petition to stop the allocation, citing that the intended activities would be detrimental to the country's largest freshwater wetland.
“The land agency has not considered all necessary social, economic, and environmental safeguards. This allocation violates the rights of local communities, threatens the services provided by the swamp,” said Paul Matiku, the Nature Kenya director.
Mr. Matiku emphasized that Yala Swamp’s ecological role as a filter for Lake Victoria as well as supporting livelihoods and biodiversity could not be underestimated.
Both Siaya and Busia counties are making efforts to have the swamp designated as a Ramsar site, a wetland of international recognition, to secure the swamp and promote proper use of the resource.
